The LOK (Landsverordening op de kansspelen), P.B.2024 no.157, in force 24 December 2024, replaced the NOOGH/LBH master-licence model with direct licensing by the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA). See here for official English translation: https://portal.cga.cw/uploads/publications/sV4kfJ6psZ9WM80fMSimTq95RBLTuG5TJ1nuBhyp.pdf Two principal licence classes exist: a B2C online gaming licence (covering casino, sports betting, poker, lottery and other remote verticals under one authorisation) and a B2B supplier licence for providers of critical gaming services/goods established in Curaçao. With regards to the B2B: The LOK legislation distinguishes between Critical Supplies and Gaming Related Services. The latter may apply for certification in Curacao but are not required to be licensed. Critical supplier’s services, who are based outside Curacao do not need a gaming licence but require registration in Curacao. The new-application portal reopened mid-March 2025 for B2C and May–June 2025 for B2B. Applicants must register a Curaçao company, maintain a registered office, appoint a Curaçao-resident managing director (or local-managed legal entity) and a compliance officer, and meet phased substance requirements (one key person within 4 years, three within 5 years), although startup exemptions may apply for the first three years of operations. Key persons are defined as persons with significant decision making control over the applicant for business. The local substance requirements are controversial given the difficulty in recruiting local suitably qualified persons and the difficulty in obtaining work permits and immigration restrictions. This area is under consultation to work towards a suitable balance, see: https://portal.cga.cw/uploads/publications/vnPNh8cA1NEA2wdgqae4BszIWlOOJQUbgEGVNgJk.pdf The CGA conducts detailed UBO/key-person due diligence including identity, criminal-background and source-of-funds checks. The application must be made via a dedicated portal: Curacao Gaming Control Board It is important to note that the application process for an online gaming licence consists of two phases: 1.Integral assessments: The CGA will focus solely on the assessment of the integrity of those involved in the application for the licence: UBOs, qualifying shareholders and the key person , as well as the assessment of the applicant's financial condition and viability. Applicants shall provide the following information and documentation necessary to assess the application*: a.“The registered office, reliability and suitability of the applicant. b.The ownership and control structure within the group to which the applicant belongs. c.The identity, reliability and suitability of its key persons. d.The identity and reliability of its qualifying shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners. e.The company's liquidity and solvency. f.The company's objectives and the acceptability and feasibility these objectives. g.The suitability, acceptability and reliability of the games of chance to be offered. h.The reliability, integrity, verifiability and suitability of its business operations and the means and methods used to offer the games of chance. i.The reliability and suitability of persons from whom he wishes to obtain services purpose of the games of chance to be offered. j.The applied registered domain name or software applications on which the games of chance are offered. k.The appropriateness and transparency of its measures to ensure responsible gaming offerings. l.The remote game system, and any software used in the operation of remote games. m.The adequacy of its measures to prevent fraud or abuse of the games offered or other forms of crime” . * Applicants must use the forms provided by the CGA and published on the portal. In the first and second phases, the CGA will assess whether the submitted information and documents are complete within two weeks of receipt. If the applicant fails to provide all necessary information and documents within four weeks of the request, the application will be discontinued. The period mentioned in the second sentence may be extended by an additional four weeks. 2.Other assessment: The second stage concerns the requirements other than those mentioned in the previous sentence that must be met by or pursuant to the National Ordinance to obtain the gaming license. Once the information has been received, the CGA will decide whether to continue processing the application in the second phase or to refuse the permit. The CGA has a period of eight weeks from the receipt of the documentation to evaluate the application, which can be extended by a maximum of a further four weeks. In practice, processing times are longer, due to a large number of applications. The applicant for a supplier’s license to provide critical services or goods in or from Curacao, shall provide all information and submit all documents that the CGA required in article 5.14 of the LOK. On the other hand, suppliers of gambling-related services or goods to licence holders shall take into account the considerations set out in article 5.17 of the LOK in order to obtain their certificate. A Curaçao licence does not authorise gambling operations in countries where local authorisation is required or the activity is prohibited. Licences are recorded in a public register, are non-transferable, and have indefinite validity subject to ongoing compliance. Under the LOK the operating licence shall be valid for an indefinite period
Curaçao · Question 02 of 11
Curaçao Gambling — Licensing and regulation: Can we get a licence?
Mixed · Probable · Expert approved · 4 post-review updates · Not reviewed · In expert review scope · Back to full Curaçao report →
Key section parameters
| Jurisdiction | Curaçao (CW) |
|---|---|
| Regulator | GCB |
| Favourability | Mixed |
| Confidence | Probable |
| Review status | Expert approved · 4 post-review updates · Not reviewed · In expert review scope |
| Last collected | 27 Oct 2026 |
Summary answer
The LOK (Landsverordening op de kansspelen), P.B.2024 no.157, in force 24 December 2024, replaced the NOOGH/LBH master-licence model with direct licensing by the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA). See here for official English translation: https://portal.cga.cw/uploads/publications/sV4kfJ6psZ9WM80fMSim…
Not reviewed Read update
The LOK's two-year transitional period for B2B critical-service supplier licensing and registration, set out in Articles 1.5(1) and 5.16, ends 24 December 2026. From that date, Curacao-established suppliers of critical services must hold a CGA supplier licence, and foreign suppliers must register with the authority. The CGA has recommended that Curacao-established suppliers file ahead of 1 September 2026, and the registration route for foreign suppliers is expected to open in October 2026, though this opening date has not yet been confirmed by a primary source and is held at Probable confidence pending that confirmation. This is a statutory deadline embedded in the LOK itself rather than a guideline-level requirement, giving it a firmer legal footing than the policy-guidance instruments also moving this cycle. Operators and their critical-service vendors should treat the window between now and December as the live compliance period for this requirement.
Not reviewed Read update
The LOK entered into force on 24 December 2024, superseding the 1993 Offshore Games Ordinance in its entirety and replacing the master-licence sub-licensing structure with direct CGA licensing. This is durable primary legislation. The CGA now issues Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) licences directly, covering online casino, sports betting, lotteries, slots, table games, crash games and bingo. Legacy sub-licences and transitional orange-seal permits have expired under the new regime. Applicants proceed through direct CGA application rather than through a master licence-holder, a structural change from the prior regime that materially alters both the cost and the compliance profile of entering the Curacao market. Technical certification under GLI Standards remains a standing licence condition. The regime is still settling: this cycle rests on convergent T3 legal and industry commentary rather than a primary CGA or Curacao government gazette text, a gap that should be closed before treating the details as fully confirmed.
Not reviewed Read update
The National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), enacted 20 December 2024, fully replaced the former NOOGH master/sub-license legislation that previously governed Curacao's gambling licensing architecture. This is a durable, primary-legislation change, carried at confirmed confidence, and represents the completion of a structural transition rather than an incremental adjustment. The CGA has continued to build implementing detail on top of this settled statutory base through 2026, publishing compliance guidance and a crypto AML/KYT framework that sit beneath the LOK as regulator-level instruments rather than primary law. For an operator, this means the foundational licensing question, which statute governs and which authority issues, is settled and stable, while the operational detail of what compliance looks like in practice continues to accrete through CGA guidance documents that carry fragile, revisable status relative to the LOK itself.
Not reviewed Read update
The Curacao Gaming Authority (CGA) is now confirmed as the sole issuing authority across B2C, B2B and charity-game licence categories, following a reorganisation in which the historical Gaming Control Board (GCB) name has been retired to a purely historical reference point. This consolidation follows directly from the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), effective 24 December 2024, a durable statutory instrument that displaced the legacy master and sub-license marketplace; the legacy master-license system was itself abolished from 1 January 2025, and orange seal sub-licences, the vehicle through which most historical operators entered the market, expired permanently on 15 October 2025. A B2B Supplier License is reported to carry a distinct visual marker, described as a blue seal, though this detail rests on a single specialist licensing-advisory source and remains uncertain pending independent corroboration.