Changes are coming to the online gambling jurisdiction of Curacao with a new law coming into effect soon. For background and a frame of reference, readers can find more information at the end of this article.
Beginning September 1, all new licenses will be issued by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB).
At a recent iGB LIVE (iGaming Business conference) Curaçao’s Ministry of Finance, Sixienne Jansen laid out how the online gaming licenses issued by the jurisdiction of Curacao will function beginning on September 1, 2023, under Curacao’s National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK).
LOK is Not Yet the Law of the Land
It’s important to note that the LOK is not yet the “law of the land” but binding agreements exist between Curacao and Amsterdam for its content and full implementation. After August this year, new licenses will be issued to the Master License holders under new rules, even though the LOK has not been introduced into parliament yet. In order to ensure continuity, all four Master License holders will automatically receive one of the new licenses on September 1. The license will be provisional and valid for one calendar year.
The LOK will reform how online gambling licensing will work for foreign operators. Nearly all licensed offshore casinos accessible to players in the United States are licensed in and regulated by Curacao.
Under the current law, there are four Master License holders in Curacao and those license holders can issue “sub-licenses” for operators of any game of chance or skill – whether it is poker, table games, bookmaking, online casinos, lottery, or any other form of remote gambling. By some estimates there could be as many as 12,000 gambling operators licensed in Curacao. However, the number of active operators is most likely much smaller
The Curacao government plans to change the entire system in a phased reform without disrupting current business operations.
According to Jansen: “No operator is going to have to pause or stop any business as a result of anything done by the Ministry. One of the primary elements of the transitions into the new regime is to facilitate uninterrupted continuity of all operations of sublicense holders.”
When the LOK actually becomes law, all “sub-licensed” operators will only have 90 days to apply for a new license without regard to any time remaining on their former license. However, Master Licensers will no longer issue any new permits and all interim or provisional licenses will be issued directly by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB). Those licenses will automatically convert into LOK licenses later on.
New Regime to Comply With International Standards
However, the new regime will be a bit tighter to conform more to international standards. While current license holders already have specific obligations and are investigated by the Master License holders, three forms must be submitted by operators under the LOK whereas the application process under the current regime has never been fully explained to the public.
- Online Gambling Application:
- Personal Declaration:
- Corporate Disclosures:
“Once an applicant has satisfied the GCB in terms of the forms and documentation submission, then a license will be issued,” Jansen said.
“Within 6 months of that license audited policies and procedures will need to be submitted for evaluation.”
The same regulations that apply now will continue to be binding during a 9-month transitional phase so there should be no disruption of business practices for operators.
Jansen explained that operators who don’t wish to participate in the new regime will have ¾ of a year to wind up their businesses under existing regulations: “For those operators who do not wish to move to the new licensing regime, they can continue to conduct business up until the date the relevant master license expires,” said Jansen.
A summary of points regarding the new licenses includes the following:
- Licenses issued from September 1 will be issued by the GCB under current legislation and regulations and will not immediately be controlled by the LOK as it is not yet the “law of the land”.
- Sub-licenses will not be issued by the GCB, however, they will still be available from master License holders from September 1, 2023, until the LOK is implemented.
- New provisions addressing anti-money laundering and responsible gambling will become known to the public as they will be part of the new licenses.
- Current license holders or those with approval in process should consult with their master licenser for more information on how to proceed – this includes operators whose licenses are currently “on hold”.
Business as Usual – For Now – As Operators Go – New Process Coming
“Contrary to much speculation, there has been no change whatsoever to the legislation or permissions since the minister publicly announced the drafting of the new legislation last November,” said Jansen.
One point bears repeating:
Beginning September 1, all new licenses will be issued by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB).
The Minister is expected to issue further guidance and more updates in September as well as a new fee structure for operators.
More Information on Curacao Gambling Law
Curacao is an online gambling website license provider and casino regulator with an antiquated and semi-transparent framework that is little understood by laymen and government officials in other nations. In a nutshell, the government has issued “Master Licenses” to four Master Licensers who then accept or reject individual gambling operators and issue “sub-licenses” to online casinos, bookmakers, and other remote gambling providers.
More background on the former “Netherlands Antilles” island shows the difficulty in whether to even call it a country or to explain its relationship with the Netherlands, its independence, or its obligations to the Dutch government.
The following is from Wikipedia and is known to be a true statement: “Following a referendum, and as a result of constitutional change, Curaçao became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on October 10, 2010.”
The further background shows that since that time the kingdom and the government in Amsterdam have wrestled with how to modernize gambling law there and more recently, to bring it more in line with how regulation and gambling law enforcement functions in other jurisdictions.
The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy. Dutch people can choose who represents them in parliament. The Netherlands is also a constitutional monarchy.
Further complicating the push for reforms from the Dutch government includes the following fact:
“Curaçao has full autonomy on most matters, with the exceptions summed up in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the title “Kingdom affairs”.
It wasn’t until the small island constituency needed assistance from Amsterdam during the world health emergency of the Covid pandemic that the Dutch government was able to exert enough influence over Curacao to “encourage” them to change the way gambling regulation and enforcement is handled and to get them on a timeline to implement those changes.
It is also important to note that the Netherlands itself has only recently reformed its online gambling laws.
The UK’s Law Review is a well-known and trusted website with specific and well-cited information on gambling law around the world. Lawyers there state the following about Dutch online gambling law:
“As of 1 April 2021, remote gambling licenses are available for casino games and sports and horse race betting.”
A more transparent regulatory framework with public and private assurances that it is in line with international standards can only be a good thing for Curacao. More accountability in regard to responsible gambling measures can only improve the player experience. However, until a process for complaints is outlined by the CGB and it is shown to be working on behalf of players, perceptions are not likely to change much.
If the CGB is no more responsive than most of the Master License holders have been to “small” complaints, it will have been an exercise in futility and lip service to the problem of murky terms and conditions including “gotcha” and “God” clauses. As it stands now, only a serious breach of licensing terms will be investigated and the public has no direct knowledge of what those terms might be and rarely if ever learns the result of an intervention.
Source: Curaçao: All master licences to get one-year extension, iGaming Business, July 12, 2023