A constituent country of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea belonging to Lesser Antilles group of islands. Located 40 miles north of the Venezuelan coast, it has an open economy with tourism, international trade, oil refining, storage, shipping services, and international financial services being the most important sectors. It is also among the top five highest countries for CO2 emissions per capita in the world.
Similar to Costa Rica...
… Curaçao has several Economic Zones with a corporate income tax of 2% on net profits from the local business.
These profits cannot exceed 25% of total turnover. With such tax incentives policy, this paradise island is a popular destination for online operators.
Legal Framework
All forms of gambling are legal for adults, both the residents and tourists, while minors are strictly forbidden. There are several laws regulating the gambling industry:
- “State Ordinance Casino Industry Curaçao” (AB 1999, No. 97)
- “State Decree Casino Industry Curaçao”
- “State Ordinance Regarding Labor in Hotels, Restaurants, and Casinos” (PB 2000, No. 67)
- “State Ordinance Concerning the Exploitation of Hazard Games on the International Markets by Means of Service Lines” (PB 1993, No. 63)
- “National Ordinance Penalization of Money Laundering” (PB 1993, No. 52)
- “National Ordinance Identification When Rendering Financial Services” (OG 1996, No. 23)
- “National Ordinance Reporting of Unusual Transactions O.G.” (PB 1996, No. 21)
- “Penal Law of Curaçao”
The land-based casino industry is governed by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (CGCB), founded in 1999. The CGCB has regulated iGaming in the beginning but redirected its purview to Curaçao Internet Gaming Association (CIGA) as a licensing authority in 2002.
Both institutions work under the umbrella the Minister of Justice.
Licensing and Operations
The process of attaining the license in Curaçao jurisdiction is not based on strong vetting procedures but is instead lenient, focusing on quantity.
Upon conclusion, the applicants are issued one of two types of available licenses — the master license or sub-license. The Minister of Justice retains the discretionary right to revoke a master license as it sees it fit.
Curiously enough, the holder of a license for remote operations cannot receive funds for gambling-related cash in Curaçao. Instead, the operator has to resort to an offshore banking account in another country.
The land-based casinos have to be attached to a hotel complex, as is the case in several other Caribbean countries. Primarily targeting tourists — though locals can play too — there are several casinos on the island, varying in their size. Mostly all of them have slot machines while some offers table games of poker, roulette, and blackjack.
Having the hotels running the operations, the visitors of island casinos can expect good fun compounded with quality service.
In an online segment of operations, however, when it comes to fair gambling and players’ protection, Curaçao faces the challenges.
Players Protection
The infrastructure that is to provide for rigid and robust licensing process resulting in quality instead of quantity is yet to be established.
The non-competing procedures for attaining the license attracts many, perhaps too many, parties that recognize opportunities and advantages for their own benefits. Furthermore, the licenses are not gambling licenses but instead permissions for business operations.
Finally, the institutional oversight of iGaming operations is at a very low level.
This has created the situation where online players are without real protection in various areas, such as:
- No independent control and supervision on software code related issues;
- No standardizes business processes, particularly visible in absence of payments’ time-frames;
- Disputes between online operators and players are not third-party mediated;
- No procedures for players’ protection of any kind are in place, for now.
Therefore…
…complains and players’ pleas for help mainly go unanswered.
For the record, the state is taking action to suppress this flood of questionable gaming sites. According to Curaçao Chronicle, the Government “will tighten the supervision of online casinos operating from the island”.
However…
…players are not encouraged to play in online casinos in Curaçao jurisdiction until this talk became the walk.
That said, one can find solid and professionally run online casinos but not all can fit that bill.
Unless you are 100% positive that operator has their games certified as being fair by independent evaluators and you’ve checked LCB Rogue and Warning Report List, you should be careful.
Further Reading
Nearby Restrictions
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