Anjouan vs Curaçao License

Anjouan vs Curaçao at a Glance

The table sets the 2 licenses side by side on the points that most affect operators and players.

The fees and timelines on both sides come from published schedules and industry estimates dated in 2026. Both regimes have changed often enough since 2024 that any figure here is a snapshot rather than a fixed term.

Who Issues Each License?

Both licenses are issued by bodies that present themselves as regulators. Only one of them is recognized as a regulator by its own national government. That single difference runs through every other section of this comparison.

Anjouan Gaming Board, AOFA and ALSI

Anjouan licenses are issued through Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. (ALSI), a private administrator acting for the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA). Casino footers often credit an Anjouan Gaming Board or a similar name, but the issuer's published structure names only AOFA and ALSI. Our Anjouan gaming license guide sets out how the names relate and who stands behind each.

The Curaçao Gaming Authority

The Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA), formerly the Gaming Control Board, is the statutory regulator under the LOK and acts on behalf of Curaçao's Minister of Finance. Since the LOK took effect, it has licensed operators directly, replacing the old system in which 4 master license holders issued sub-licenses. The CGA has also issued cease-and-desist letters to Curaçao-registered companies operating under foreign licenses. One regulator is a government body; the other is a private company acting for an authority whose standing the national government rejects.

How Secure Is Each Regulator's Authority?

A license is only as strong as the body that can enforce it, and that body's own standing. On that measure, the 2 regimes differ more than their rulebooks do.

Is the Anjouan License Safe Next to Curaçao's?

The Anjouan regime rests on a 2005 Act whose authority the government of the Comoros rejects. The Central Bank of the Comoros has called AOFA a fictitious entity, and in October 2026 the government asked British authorities for help investigating the licensing network. The issuer maintains that its licenses are valid but has not published the legal opinion it relies on. A license whose issuer is disputed at home offers players less certainty than one whose issuer is not, whatever its written conditions say. The full record of the dispute is on our Anjouan gaming license page.

Curaçao's National Gaming Law (LOK)

Curaçao's parliament passed the LOK in December 2024 by 13 votes to 6, and the law took effect on December 24, 2024. The CGA has agreed to cooperate closely with the Netherlands Gambling Authority on developing its regulation. Curaçao's regulator is not free of scrutiny; in August 2026 it answered press questions about why the LOK contains no list of blocked countries. The scrutiny concerns how the CGA uses its authority, however, not whether it has any.

Anjouan or Curaçao License: Requirements Compared

Anjouan's conditions have tightened through 2026, yet the heavier obligations still sit on the Curaçao side. The gap is widest on where the company must be and who must work there. On domains and identity checks, the 2 regimes now read much alike.

Ownership and Due Diligence

Only companies established under Curaçao law, with their statutory seat in Curaçao, may apply for a CGA license. Under the CGA's local substance policy, license holders must eventually employ at least 3 key persons registered in Curaçao and lease local premises, although the CGA has deferred enforcement until April 1, 2027. An Anjouan applicant may form its company in Anjouan or another accepted jurisdiction, and ALSI carries out due diligence on the company and its key people. The difference decides how much of an operator each regulator can actually reach.

Domains and License Seals

Both regimes tie a license to approved domains. Curaçao registers each player-facing domain with the CGA and issues color-coded digital seals tied to license status. Anjouan approves domains per license, charges €500 for each additional domain and issues an interactive seal linked to its validator. The mechanics now look alike; what a seal confirms is only as strong as the regulator behind it.

Anjouan Casino KYC vs Curaçao KYC

Both regimes require identity checks and anti-money-laundering controls. The CGA has published detailed requirements for anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing, covering identification, verification, due diligence, monitoring and record-keeping. Anjouan's KYC and AML code, dated October 13, 2026, appears in its license conditions with its start date left to a later notice. On paper, the Curaçao rules are in force while the Anjouan code is still waiting for a start date.

Anjouan Casino Restricted Countries vs Curaçao

Anjouan publishes a list of excluded countries; Curaçao does not. The October 2026 Anjouan license conditions bar operators from 9 named countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany, together with sanctioned jurisdictions and countries under a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) call for action. Curaçao's LOK contains no statutory list of blocked countries, a position the CGA defended in August 2026 on the grounds that it regulates operations from Curaçao and cannot regulate other countries' markets. Anjouan's list looks stricter on paper, yet the issuer's own International Cooperation page still says its licenses carry no territorial restrictions under Anjouan law. Under either license, a country missing from a list is not a country where gambling is lawful, because that question belongs to each player's local law.

Anjouan Casino Complaints Compared With Curaçao

Both regimes now send unresolved complaints to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider paid for by the operator. Curaçao has run its system for longer and asks more of operators along the way. The result is that a Curaçao complaint passes through more written steps before it reaches ADR, and leaves more of a record behind.

How Anjouan ADR Works

Since 2026, every Anjouan licensee must designate an approved ADR provider, and industry reports from October 2026 describe 1 provider approved and 2 in preparation. The route is too new to have produced a record of decisions. About 25 public reviews of the Anjouan licensing body, dated January to July 2026, describe players escalating complaints and receiving no response. The written route exists; how it is used is not yet on record.

How Curaçao Handles Disputes

Curaçao's complaints policy, in force since June 18, 2025, requires a free internal complaints process with response deadlines and sends unresolved cases to ADR. A CGA-approved ADR system is also a condition of the license itself, and an applicant without one can be refused. The CGA states that it does not decide individual player complaints. Since January 2026, Curaçao operators have also had to report their complaints to the regulator, which gives the CGA a running record of complaints across its licensees.

Checking a License on Each Register

Both regulators publish registers, and on both a useful check matches the company, the license number and the domain. The steps are close to identical. What differs is the standing of the body that keeps the record.

The Anjouan License Check

An Anjouan license check runs on the issuer's register at anjouangaming.com, searched by company name or license number, and Anjouan license numbers carry the ALSI prefix. A copy of the register read on October 21, 2026 listed 1,373 licenses and 3,729 authorized domains. Our Anjouan gaming license guide sets out each step, including seals and revoked licenses.

The Curaçao License Register

The CGA publishes its licensees and their registered domains through its online portal, and its digital seals change color with license status. A Curaçao seal that does not link back to the CGA's own portal, or a domain missing from the licensee's registered list, fails the check in the same way an Anjouan one would. The difference is that a Curaçao entry is issued by a regulator whose authority is not contested.

Anjouan License Cost vs Curaçao Fees

Anjouan is cheaper to enter and cheaper to keep. The issuer's fee schedule sets €17,828 for issuance and the same amount for each annual renewal, with €500 for each additional domain. Curaçao charges a base application fee of €4,592, but its annual license and supervisory fees come to roughly €46,000 to €48,000 for a B2C operator, according to a 2026 industry comparison, and the local substance rules will add staff and office costs once enforced. Neither regime taxes gross gaming revenue; Curaçao applies a 2% corporate profit tax instead, according to the same comparison. The lower Anjouan price buys a license whose issuer is disputed; the higher Curaçao price buys one whose issuer is not.

Why Operators Move From Curaçao to Anjouan

Anjouan's licensing administrator began issuing licenses in May 2023, as Curaçao was moving toward the stricter LOK, and the timing suggests the 2 are connected. The LOK requires a Curaçao company, eventually local key persons and an office, and annual fees several times higher than Anjouan's. Industry reporting has documented brands moving their licensing from Curaçao to Anjouan since then, and the Anjouan register passed 1,650 licenses issued by July 2026. Curaçao's regulator has answered by sending cease-and-desist letters to Curaçao-registered companies that operate under foreign licenses. What the movement suggests is that, for some operators, the lighter regime is the attraction rather than a side effect.

Anjouan vs Curaçao Casinos: What Changes for Players

At the point of sign-up, Anjouan vs Curaçao casinos now look much alike: both licenses require identity checks, both tie a license to its domains and both send unresolved complaints to ADR. The differences appear later. A Curaçao casino answers to a regulator recognized by its own government, reports its complaints to that regulator and works under anti-money-laundering rules already in force. An Anjouan casino answers to an issuer whose authority is disputed, with an ADR route that has no record yet. Neither license guarantees that a casino pays, which is why each casino on our homepage is judged on its own record. Between the 2, the Curaçao license offers the firmer foundation; the operator built on it still decides the outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions