Curaçao’s National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK) will go into effect in September, iGB reported July 12.
Although the ordinance has not yet been submitted to parliament for approval, it is expected to be updated in time for new licenses to be issued by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (CGCB) beginning in September.
Sixiènne Jansen, a legal advisor to the Caribbean island nation’s ministry of finance recently talked about how the country will grant licenses to foreign operators on its iGB L!VE site.
Curaçao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in 2020 the Dutch government requested that it reform its gaming regulations in return for Covid-19 financial relief. This will include revamping the island’s gambling license, which has given it the unwelcome reputation of being among the most lax jurisdictions in the world.
Existing law requires operators to apply for a sub-license from one of four holders of master licenses. This system will be phased out, Jansen said. The plan is to make it harder to get new licenses, and obligate license holders to do more to maintain the privilege, such as anti-money laundering and responsible gambling obligations.
To facilitate the process, GCB will extend all master licenses for an additional year.
Jansen told iGB, “No operator is going to have to pause or stop any business as a result of anything done by the ministry.” She added, “One of the primary elements of the transitions into the new regime is to facilitate uninterrupted continuity of all operations of sub-license holders.”
Once the new ordinance becomes law, sub-licensees will have 90 days to apply for a new license, no matter how long the master license has remaining.
She added, “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.”
“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,” Jansen continued, per iGB. “The only change that will happen on September 1 is that the ministry will issue the new licenses and not the master-licenses.
Operators will have the choice of applying for a license through the GCB or from a master license holder. Either way, operators will need to fill out three forms. One is the application, the second is a personal declaration identifying all those who will be involved with the business, the third will consist of corporate disclosures.
Jansen concluded, “Player protection, dynamic AML procedures, KYC, responsible gaming and robust technical and info security setups will all be expected as standard in the new Curaçao regime.”
