Curaçao reopening gambling licensing portal

The Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) has announced it will reopen its online portal for B2C and B2B licence applications on 15 July.

The previous application window shut in Curaçao on 30 April, which was the deadline for sublicenses. This was after the initial deadline of 31 March was pushed back by almost a month to allow issues with applications to be fixed.

B2C, B2B2C and B2B operators are able to apply for an updated licence, although applications made before the previously 30 April deadline will remain the priority for processing. New applications will not be processed until all the current filings are completed.

The GCB said the latest window coincided with a wave of master licences expiring in August, which will not be renewed.

An updated regulatory framework dubbed the National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK) has been in development since September 2023, when the GCB first established its new licensing window process.

Master licences set to expire in January 2025 will automatically expire on the day the new regulation comes into force, the GCB said.

As the incoming LOK is still progressing through parliament, applications will be processed under the current National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard (NOOGH) legislation.

The guidelines in Curaçao

In March, the GCB released a nine-page document outlining the guidelines for applications.

Only minor changes have been made ahead of the new application window. These include the portal user no longer requiring an authorisation letter.

At ICE London in February Cedric Pietersz, the GCB managing director, said of the licensing process: “Imagine that you have a sub-licence of a master licence holder, whose licence expires on 31 August. That means if you don’t apply, and it’s 31 March, you can continue operating on your licence.

“But after 31 August, which is the date of the expiration of your master licence, you will be operating illegally because you don’t have a sub-licence and you don’t have a licence from the Gaming Control Board.”

Implementation of the LOK

Curaçao minister of justice Javier Silvania has on various occassions highlighted the potential of the new regulation working as a “safety net” against grey market operators, by legitimising gambling operations.

Silvania also told the Curaçao parliament the LOK would help to improve the reputation of the jurisdiction, which had been seen by some as prone to money laundering.

The LOK is expected to come in later this year, at which point the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) will take over as regulator and oversee the issuing of licences.