Online Casinos Switch to Anjouan Gaming Licensing After PAGCOR Fiasco

Online gambling operators have jumped from Curacao to PAGCOR and now to Anjouan Gaming Licensing – Casinoplusbonus gives you the full story!

It was last week I reported on the PACGOR licensing system for overseas casinos being cancelled.

Today the operators who were using PAGCOR have moved to the Anjouan Gaming Licensing system.

The result of the move was due to to president of the Philippines issuing an executive order rendering PAGOr overseas licensing illegal. As a result, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. gave overseas companies until the end of the year to leave the Philippines.

That’s when I wrote the news piece – Is the New PAGCOR Licensing System Already Over?

Operators who made the jump from Curacao to PAGCOR had found themselves in an awkward situation. Yet rather than return to Curacao, they have opted to operate under the not-so-well-known Anjouan Gaming Licensing.

Two operators we know well here in Casinoplusbonus have shut down their operations in Curcaso. They are Araxio Development N.V. and Rabidi N.V., who have both shut down their operations in Curacao. They have since moved to the  PAGCOR framework.

Yet, in light of recent events, the operators are dropping their PAGCOR status and have moved to Anjouan. These operators manage popular online casinos Zet Casino, Boa Boa, 7Signs, Rabona, Oh My Spins,  Playzilla and Alf Casino.

The story begins with COVID-19. Yes, that old Chesnut is coming back to haunt us again! Just when we all thought we had heard the last of the words ‘pandemic and COVID’ in the online gambling entertainment industry. Well, one last time, please!

As tourism was non-existent in the small Caribbean Dutch ancillary island of Curacao, the government contacted its old colonial friend for help. When the Netherlands reciprocated by sending its financial aid package, it came with conditions.

One of those conditions was to restructure the Curacao online gambling entertainment Matser Licensing framework. Consequently, since 2020, Curacao has been setting up the new Curacao Gaming Control Board (GCB). This falls under the new National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard (LOK Ordinance).

Curacao’s GCB replaces the four master licensing system. Those four companies would issue certificates to operate eGaming services. Yet, now they are closing down by the end of 2024.

The operates much like the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) or the UK Gambling Commission. Rather than operating under a ‘Master Licensing Company’, each operator must now have a single licensing certificate issued by the GCB.

As a result, the GCB is now the sole entity that regulates compliance in Curacao. It has the power to issue, suspend, and revoke the GCB online gambling certificate to operate. In other words, the GCB is the central authority for all online gambling entertainment compliance.

Why Are Some Operators Not Switching to Curacao’s New GCB?

The new laws under the Curacao GCB generally don’t suit the way these operators want to run their casinos. The GCB compliance laws require a clear company structure, so they know who the beneficiaries are.

With the old system, this was not something the Master Licening system concerned itself with. Just as long the operator has a Curacao company, paid tax, paid licensing fees and showed some semblance of financial capacity to operate an online gambling entertainment site, the operator would receive an eGaming certificate.

Under the GCB, those days are long gone. Full company structure and transparent financial reporting appear to have scared off some operators who don’t want to open their books to the Curacao government.

The bottom line is, that the owners want their identities to remain private, and so they opted to allow their Master Licensing eGaming certificate to expire.

To find online casinos and operators now operating in Anjouan, you can read the Anjouan Global Internet Gaming Licensing website.