Curaçao

A licence is necessary to open and operate an online casino. This document provides the legal basis for your business, allowing you to open a bank account and cooperate with top gaming providers. The curacao licence is one of the most popular licences owing to its line of advantages and relatively low cost.

History of online gambling in Curacao

The island of curacao was one of the first places in the world to create legislation regulating the online gambling market. A few years later, the government set up the gaming license authority to issue licenses and supervise the industry. After the first license was issued, more businesses became interested in curacao as a jurisdiction for online gambling because of its regulatory framework and code of conduct. By 2001, the curacao internet gaming association was created to make sure all gaming operators followed these guidelines. Today, curacao is home to many international gaming companies and is one of the largest registries for online gambling in the world. This is because its licensing requirements are affordable and easy to acquire, compared to other jurisdictions. Additionally, curacao has a strong financial service sector, well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, and is politically and economically stable—all factors that make it an attractive choice for igaming startups from all over the world.

The curacao government has done a lot to make it easier for offshore gaming companies to do business. This includes making it possible to create more flexible business structures and not taxing them. Even though it’s called a «tax haven», curacao follows the eu code of conduct against harmful tax practices. It’s also an irs qualified intermediary, an oecd jurisdiction that enforces ctf and aml compliance, and a member of the caribbean financial action task force on money laundering.

How Does Gambling Licensing Work in Curacao?

The curacao government legalized remote gambling in 1993, which falls under the curacao gaming control board (gcb). It’s worth noting that for a while after 1993, the gcb gave up control of the remote gaming sector. It’s unclear which agency was specifically responsible for regulating the remote gambling sector during this period, but in december 2018, the curacao minister of finance announced that the gbc will take over this responsibility again. It’s not yet clear when this will happen.

The national ordinance on offshore games of hazard issues remote gambling licenses in two forms: a master license, which is issued by the ministry of justice and allows the holder to run an online gaming operation and sub-let their license to other businesses offering online gambling services, and a sub-license, which is provided by a master license holder to another company looking to provide an online gambling service.

Curacao gambling license advantages

Since 2002, curacao has been issuing gambling licenses, so the jurisdiction is considered reliable by customers. The advantages of a curacao gambling license include: it can be used for various games (online casino, sports betting, blackjack, roulette, and others); there is no need to be present in person to register a license; the license can be obtained remotely from any location; one of the best tax benefits: 0% tax rate on income received from all revenues of online gambling outside curacao, and 0% vat; minimum package of docs; speed (turnkey project realization takes from 2 to 4 months for the sbsb company, depending on the complexity of the project and the responsiveness of the client); loyal cost for an international licensed gambling projects; no requirements for local office on the territory of curacao island; no authorized capital and insurance deposit required; possibility to work with fiat payments and cryptocurrencies.

A gaming business that is registered in curacao will be able to provide their services to people all around the world, with a few exceptions of countries that the regulator does not recommend working with. (curaçao, netherlands, france, usa, cyprus, spain, australia, saint martin, great britain, and others.)

Curacao Gambling Requirements

If you want to offer gambling services to people in curacao, you must be a resident of curacao, the eu, or the eea. You’ll need to get licenses and permissions from the curacao gaming commission. If your company is based in another country, you must have someone who lives in curacao who can deal with the authorities there and has the power to sign contracts on your company’s behalf. You’ll also need to open a bank account in curacao where you can deposit players’ money. Only licensed remote gambling operators will be allowed to pay players through approved payment processors.

The company will have to comply with certain requirements regarding the minimum share capital, depending on the type of game it offers. A monthly declaration, giving details about income from games of chance and the fees due, will have to be submitted to the cgc on a standard form. The company will also have to comply with principles regarding the protection of minors, as well as with content in promotional material and locations where it can be displayed.

Curacao is great for startups

There are many benefits to establishing your first egaming operation in curacao. The cost of setting up a full structure including a domiciled company, merchant bank accounts, payment services providers, and everything else you need to qualify as a license holder is less than €25,000. Corporate taxation rates on profits are very low—just 2% if your company is set up correctly from the start. Because curacao is part of the netherlands, you are able to home your parent company in an eu country, select eu banks, and set up full iban payment processing accounts. Gaming platform vendors recognise the curacao gaming license as fully legitimate, so you will be able to «white-lable» the best of the breed for your own operation. Players are familiar with the curacao name and it has a high reputation of fairness and honesty, so they will respond positively to your marketing.

Lastly, and most importantly, you will have the professional and amiable services of gbo with you every step of the way from preliminary inquiry through to inaugurating the doors to your first client. Gbo has done this dozens of times for highly satisfied start-up customers, and we are anxious to do the same for you.

Curacao License Advantages and Flaws

One of the most popular igaming licenses in the world is the curacao gaming license. It is widely regarded as one of the best licenses for operating worldwide. The curacao license has many undeniable pros, including: wide coverage, cost-efficiency, zero corporate tax, short application period, and a multi-product license. However, there are also some cons to consider, such as: it’s not accepted in some territories, the precise price is unknown before negotiation with the licensor, and less restrictive regulation. From our own experience, we believe that the curacao license is one of the best licensing solutions on the market — especially for igaming start-ups.