Curaçao Gaming Authority

What this authority does

For roughly two decades Curaçao operated the cheapest and least demanding licensing route in the industry. A small number of master licences had been granted, and each master licence holder could issue sub-licences to operators, with the result that there was no single public register, no consistent standard of supervision and, in many cases, no meaningful relationship between the operator and the government.

The National Ordinance on Games of Chance replaced that arrangement. Licensing moved to a new authority which issues licences directly, separates B2C from B2B, requires local substance and applies anti-money-laundering obligations, with existing sub-licensees required to transition to the new regime.

Curaçao's significance is that it has been the licence of record for a very large number of sites serving markets with no licensing of their own. The reform therefore matters beyond the island itself: it changes the baseline standard for the part of the industry that operates outside nationally licensed markets.

Licences it issues

• B2C online gaming licence
• B2B online gaming licence

What supervision concentrates on

• Direct licensing of operators
• Replacement of the master and sub-licence system
• Anti-money-laundering supervision