An Overview of Curacao Casinos: Their Origin, Rules, and Benchmarks
Curacao, a part of the Dutch Kingdom, is a coveted region for online gambling licensure. Being one of the earliest regions to regulate online gaming in the Caribbean:
- The Governor of Curacao gained authority in 1993 to issue online gaming permits under the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard (NOOGH).
- By 1996, the first licences from Curacao were conferred.
- The NOOGH system granted four private Master Licence holders – Antillephone N.V., Gaming Curacao, Curacao Interactive Licensing N.V., and Curacao eGaming authority – the right to distribute sub-licences, enabling operations under the Master Licence system.
- In 2019, governance of licence allocation and online casino oversight transitioned to the Curacao Gaming Control Board under the Minister of Finance's delegation.
- Following critiques regarding regulatory supervision, Curacao's government initiated a restructuring, aiming to supplant NOOGH with a modern law The National Ordinance for Games of Chance, summarized in Dutch as Landsverordening op de kansspelen (LOK). As the new gambling legislation was being phased in, Curacao established a transitional setup where operators sought direct licences through the Gaming Control Board, discontinuing the renewal of Master Licence concessions.
- This shift wasn't instantaneous; authorities gradually implemented reforms, providing operators ample opportunities to comply with the new registration system.
Key Aspects of Curacao Gambling Licences