Topic guide · Updated Aug 2026
Offshore Casino Licensing: Curacao, Anjouan and the Rest
Most online casinos marketed to UK players as non-GamStop hold their licence from one of a small number of offshore jurisdictions. Because the licence is often the only external oversight an operator has, understanding what each regulator actually does matters more than for a UKGC-licensed site. This page walks through the major ones.
Curacao — Gaming Control Board (GCB)
Curacao is the single most common licensing jurisdiction for offshore operators serving the UK market. The Curacao Gaming Control Board issues licences directly, publishes a public register, and — since the National Ordinance on Games of Chance reform of September 2023 — has significantly tightened its regime. The old master-licence and sub-licence system, in which four master licence holders had for two decades on-sold effectively unregulated sub-licences to anyone with a shell company, was abolished. Operators now hold a direct GCB licence and must meet requirements on player-fund segregation, complaint handling, AML compliance, and independent game-fairness testing.
What Curacao is not is a UKGC-equivalent regulator. Its enforcement capacity, measured in staff, jurisdictional reach, and disciplinary track record, is materially smaller than the UKGC's. A player with a serious dispute can file a complaint on the GCB's public portal at gamingcontrolcuracao.org, and since the reforms the regulator has become more responsive, but outcomes are not comparable to a UKGC ADR process. Verify licences directly: a valid GCB licence displays a licence number on the operator's site that returns a matching entry on the regulator's public register.
Anjouan — Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA)
Anjouan is an autonomous island of the Union of the Comoros, off the east coast of Africa. Its offshore finance authority began issuing gambling licences at low cost, on rapid turnarounds, from around 2020, and Anjouan-licensed operators became visible in the UK-facing market from 2023 onwards. The Anjouan Betting Board publishes a licensee register, and the licence is real in the sense that it exists on paper.
The concern is not the existence of the licence but the enforcement track record, which is short. Anjouan has not been operating a gambling regulatory function long enough for there to be public data on complaint outcomes, disciplinary actions, or how it handles an operator that stops paying customers. Treat an Anjouan-only licence as a green light to investigate the operator further, not as a green light to assume protection.
Kahnawake — Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC)
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission licenses operators from the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake in Quebec. It is one of the older offshore regulators — established in 1999 — and has a well-established complaint process with published outcomes. It appears less often than Curacao among UK-facing offshore operators but where it does appear, it is a positive signal. Licences verify on the KGC public register.
Costa Rica — not a licence
Costa Rica is a common source of confusion because operators cite it in their footers as though it were a licensing jurisdiction. It is not. Costa Rica does not license gambling. What operators typically have is an ordinary business registration in Costa Rica, which lets them incorporate as a data-processing company — nothing more. There is no regulator to escalate complaints to, no external enforcement of any consumer protection, and no public register to verify against. A casino whose only jurisdiction is Costa Rica is, for practical purposes, unregulated.
Isle of Man and Gibraltar — reputable but usually on GamStop
The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority are both reputable regulators with high standards. Operators licensed by them are generally also licensed by the UKGC, which means they are on GamStop. If you find an Isle of Man or Gibraltar operator that is genuinely not on GamStop, it is worth understanding why — typically it means they have chosen not to hold a UKGC licence at all, which limits their commercial reach and merits some questions.
How to verify any licence claim
The verification process is the same across regulators and takes about two minutes. Find the licence number in the casino's footer. Go to the regulator's public register directly (not via any link on the casino's site). Search for the licence number. If it appears and the operator name matches what you see, the licence is real. If it does not appear, or the operator name does not match, do not deposit. A missing or unverifiable licence number is the single most common warning sign across the offshore market.
Frequently asked questions
Kahnawake and, at the higher tiers, Isle of Man and Gibraltar are the most established, though Isle of Man and Gibraltar operators generally also hold UKGC licences and are therefore on GamStop. Among the licences most common to non-GamStop sites, a post-2023 Curacao GCB licence with a verifiable number on the regulator's public register is the strongest signal.
The old master-licence and sub-licence system was abolished; the Gaming Control Board now issues licences directly. Operators must meet higher standards on player-fund segregation, complaint handling, and audit. The change genuinely improved the regime, though enforcement resources remain modest by UKGC standards.
No. Costa Rica does not license online gambling. Casinos that cite Costa Rica are typically registered there as ordinary businesses, which is not a regulatory licence and gives players no external body to complain to. Treat 'Costa Rica' in a casino footer as a warning sign.