Curacao

The island of Curaçao is located in the Caribbean Sea, not far off the coast of Venezuela. It was discovered in 1499 by a Spanish navigator. There are several versions of how the island got its name, the most fascinating version goes like this:

When explorers landed on the island, they found the locals quite tall. Therefore, the island was named "Giants." But in the seafaring crew were sailors sick with scurvy, and they were left here as well. A few years later, the crew returned and found that the sailors were completely healthy. In honor of this, the island became known as Curaçao, Spanish for "island of healing."

In 2010, Curaçao was granted the status of a self-governing state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Curacao: Casino with licenses

The list of online casinos with Curacao licenses is very long; almost more than 50% of all gambling establishments on the internet operate under this license. Some of them are Spin Million, Casino 440, FatBoss, JellyBeancasino, Goodwin, and Bet It All.

Curacao review

The economy of the island of Curaçao includes three main factors.

• The service sector accounts for about 83% of GDP. This should include tourism and licensing revenue from the gambling industry, as well as other companies registered offshore.
• Oil refining accounts for about 15% of the island's GDP. In 1920, an oil refinery was built on the island, which was quite a rational decision given its proximity to Venezuela, a major oil supplier.
• Agriculture gives about 2%. Due to the lack of fresh water, this type of activity is underdeveloped.

Since 1996, it has been possible to obtain a gambling license for various gambling activities. Companies can get two types of licenses:

1. Master license: The license holder has the right to issue sub-licenses. The license is valid for five years.
2. Sublicense: Holders of this license type can offer to gamble but cannot issue gambling licenses. It is valid for as long as the master license is active.

The Ministry of Justice administers licensing, and the Minister can suspend or revoke a license at any time at his discretion. Although the Ministry is considered to be in charge, there is an organization called Curacao eGaming, which regulates gambling. And it is there that you should apply for a gambling license. The process is generally as follows: The Ministry of Finance is the executive and supervisory body overseeing Curacao eGaming.

The licensing process is simple and lasts two to six weeks. The licensing cost is not great, just over €30,000. Note that the regulator and the state influence the company's activities (online casino) minimally. The main thing that would have been on time to pay all taxes and then claims will not be, even in the case of some violations. These factors have made the jurisdiction a "paradise" for organizations seeking a gaming license.

Moreover, unlike other jurisdictions, they will not have to obtain a separate license for each type of gambling entertainment. Curaçao has a general license for all gambling activities.

The reputation of the jurisdiction of Curaçao as a "licensee" is very controversial.

1. On the one hand, the low cost of obtaining a license and acceptable tax rates attract many companies wishing to open an online casino.
2. On the other hand, players who choose establishments with this license are quite risky, as the regulator does not control them. For example, it has been repeatedly noted that several casinos with Curaçao gambling licenses integrate unoriginal games (fakes) on their sites, passing them off as original. The regulator made no tough decisions except advising operators to remove the non-original software.

The situation became so dire that at the end of 2018, the island's government began to take some steps to improve the "climate" of the gambling industry. Previously, gambling regulations were entrusted to the Ministry of Finance. As practice has shown, the Ministry failed to cope with this task. And

On December 18, 2018, the Minister of Finance publicly announced the government's intention to task the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) with regulating the online gambling sector.

Curaçao Gaming Control Board - established on April 19, 1999, with a specific goal: to become the regulator for the entire gaming industry operating in Curaçao.

Further, in 2019, the Curacao eGaming organization entered into a cooperation agreement with Trueplay, which has developed blockchain-based online casino solutions. A special Trueplay Truesign module part of the blockchain solution ensures the game results are reliably fair. At the same time, the casino players' data is fully protected thanks to encryption.

These measures are designed to increase player confidence in online casinos operating under a Curaçao license.

Curacao eGaming legal representative Bas Yongmans commented:

"These TrueSign initiatives bring exciting, much-needed improvements to the gaming industry. The potential of the TrueSign module can greatly expand monitoring capabilities. Its potential is very promising. Its decentralized setup ensures that relevant records cannot be changed retroactively. This allows participants to verify and validate transactions independently and relatively inexpensively. It could also prove extremely useful in the fight against money laundering."

In general, Casinoz has to state that as of the end of 2019, the licensing and supervision of operators operating under a Curaçao license has not changed much.

Gambling history in this country

The online gambling industry in Curaçao has been legalized since 1993 when the National Ordinance on Offshore Gambling came into force. The Minister of Justice issues online gambling licenses under national regulations. The Minister of Finance was recently tasked with licensing and controlling the online gaming sector.

On December 18, 2018, the Minister of Finance publicly announced the government's intention to task the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) with regulating the online gaming sector. On February 15, 2019, the GCB was appointed regulator for all gaming sectors operating in Curaçao, including the online gaming sector.

Licensing authority

The process of obtaining a gambling license in the jurisdiction of Curaçao is quite simple. But at the same time, the regulation of the industry itself is quite confusing. That is, the transparency of the industry is not about Curaçao. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to understand what organizations are involved in the licensing process and what function they perform.

• Ministry of Justice. The main body in the country has the right to issue licenses. It can also suspend a license at any time.
• Curacao eGaming. Exercises control, deals with player complaints, and mediates the license. Principle:
  "To monitor and ensure the integrity and conduct of authorized Curaçao eGaming IP operators and service providers."
  
• Gaming Control Board. In charge of regulating the gambling industry.
  

The Curacao eGaming organization is best known internationally and in the gaming community. According to many, it is responsible for the entire gambling industry on the island, but this is not the case. Or rather, not quite so. This regulator does most of the work, including assisting in obtaining a license and dealing with player complaints. However, it does not take part in developing social responsibility measures and introducing additional protection for players from fraudulent actions of casinos. And this, as we have already voiced, has brought gambling in the country to a sad state.

It is also worth understanding and separating the concepts of Master License and Sub License. Master license holders average about four or six companies. Which, in turn, issues licenses to other companies that open online casinos. License holders are charged with monitoring compliance with the licensing rules and do not allow their violation. And as practice shows, such companies do not pay attention to this.

Not everyone is so careless. There are companies with master licenses that control the activities of establishments working under a sub-license. However, in our opinion, they are extremely loyal and, in most cases, issue a "verbal warning" to the casino as a punishment.

According to Casinoz, the main problem of the jurisdiction is the possibility of uncontrolled issuance of gambling sub-licenses. This problem has reached such proportions that some European Union countries have banned their players from playing at online casinos with Curacao licenses.

It should be noted that the jurisdiction is issued one type of license for any gambling, which also does not contribute to developing the industry in the legal field.

The overall situation is as follows:

If a company desires to get a master license, it should undoubtedly apply to the Ministry of Finance. If a sub-license will suffice, it should feel free to apply through Curacao eGaming.

The company guarantees almost complete non-interference in the affairs of the future online casino, a fast procedure for obtaining a license, and low costs.

Requirements for licensees

The company must undergo a certification process with the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce and Industry and be registered in the jurisdiction of Curaçao. Once these procedures have been completed, the application will be reviewed by Curaçao. The following documents will then be required:

• Company owner information
• Bank account information
  
• Proof that minors will be denied access to the online casino;
  
• Proof that the site contains information on the prevention of gambling addiction;
  
• Information about the location of the casino servers; Must be located in the Jurisdiction.
• Information on where the casino will provide its services
• Software that will be used for online casino operations
• RNG certification
• Business plan justifying financial development for three years.
  

After verification, operators are eligible for one of two types of licenses: basic or sub-license. Both cover gaming operations and grant the same rights. The main difference is the increased authority - an operator with a basic license can grant sub-licenses to third parties.

Conclusion

Gambling regulation in Curaçao is in its infancy. On the whole, it may seem that this is a good thing, as there is development. But note that gambling in the jurisdiction was legalized in 1993, and the government has had plenty of time to bring the industry to a perfect state. Because of this, Casinoz recommends choosing online casinos with a Curaçao license very carefully.

For the sake of fairness, there are a number of quite decent and reliable projects among them.