Curacao Regulation: Comparison of NOOGH and LOK
Vladyslav Drapii
iGaming
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The National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK) has been officially submitted to Parliament and the Minister of Finance has initiated a sequence of procedures to facilitate a seamless transition from the existing framework to the new system upon the law’s enactment.
Licenses under the new framework (issued by NOOGH and the LOK)
All licenses and license holders will be granted the same rights and conditions. There is flexibility as to the corporate and license structure entities can set up with regard to their individual operations.
- Any account can have one or more licenses.
- Any UBO(s) can have one or more accounts.
- Any license can have unlimited domains.
Prospective renewal of Current Gaming Licenses (Master Licensees)
From this point forward, there will be no new extensions or renewals of Master Licenses. Master Licensors will only be able to continue to operate and permit sublicensees to do so until current renewals expire, or LOK come into force, whichever happens first. On the passing of LOK or when there are no less 12 weeks of the current renewal remaining, again which ever happens first, the Master Licensor must promptly notify the GCB which sublicences remain contracted to it. After this time Master Licensors should they wish to continue operations in their own right will need to wait until LOK is implemented and apply for a license then.
1 st January
All license holders under the NOOGH will be allowed to use a new Digital Seal on the domains of their websites. The GCB will issue this Digital Seal.
In addition, the GCB has the discretion to permit operators in contractual arrangements with license holders (the sublicensees) with license applicants in progress, that have satisfied the due diligence required by the GCB to offer the same Digital Seal.
A Digital Seal Policy will shortly be issued by the GCB and will require operators to include the “token” associated with each domain registered on the GCB portal to be inserted into the websites’ DNS.
License holders will be responsible for actively monitoring their sub-licenses to ensure they do not employ a variant of the official Digital Seal without enforcement. The GCB will take enforcement measures against license holders found to be in violation of this policy.
31 st March 2024
Registration of sublicense on the GCB portal and the subsequent application for direct licenses of those sublicense operators will no longer be possible after the 31st March 2024.
The following are the scenarios based on sublicense registration and NOOGH license applications from this date.
| Sublicense and domains registered on GCB portal | Sublicense and domains not registered on GCB portal | |
| Application in progress on the GCB portal or license issued by the GCB under NOOGH | Operations continue uninterrupted under sublicense agreement until direct license is issued. Direct license if held at the time of the LOK coming into force will be grandfathered into the new framework as a provisional license without any interruption of business operations. Applications in progress will continue under the LOK framework and sublicense operations can continue uninterrupted. | N/A |
| No application in progress on the GCB portal and/or license issued by the GCB under NOOGH | Continue operations under the current agreement with Master License holder until expiry ceases or LOK comes into force, whichever is first. Any subsequent application to be made will be treated as a new application and not “grandfathered” at change over from NOOGH to LOK, giving rise to a risk of temporary interruption to operations in between licenses. | Immediately cease operations under any sublicense contractual agreement from this date. Any application to be made will be a new application and not “grandfathered” at change over from NOOGH to LOK, giving rise to a risk of temporary interruption to operations in between licenses. |
Comparison of NOOGH and LOK
Licenses currently being issued by the GCB under the existing NOOGH legislation are operating licenses only – they do not have separate B2B or B2C categorisation. Under the incoming LOK legislation, a B2C license is required by any entity as detailed in Section 4 of the Online Gaming Application Form.
- Companies who interact directly with the players – controls player funds and/or player data management (B2C)
- Companies (for example platforms) who meaningfully facilitate the B2C operations vis-à-vis player funds and player data (B2B2C)
Post LOK enactment, B2B licenses are only mandatory for B2B entities that establish themselves in Curaçao. The B2B license is optional for all other relevant international entities.
A domain is a main/primary domain (within which a unique dynamic seal will be housed) and does not include mirroring or other domain access URLs that may be used for marketing purposes.
Any license application from a brand new entity/applicant (i.e. not under any existing license or sublicense) under NOOGH will be processed under NOOGH, and if not yet completed at the point the LOK comes into force will have the same status as sublicensees.
Fees under the current legislation – NOOGH
One operating license (not categorised as B2C or B2B)
| ANG | (Approx. EUR equivalent) | |
| Application Fee | 0 | 0 |
| Annual fee(payable on license issuance) | 36,000 | 18,500 |
| GPT tax / revenue share | 0% | 0% |
| Monthly fee | 7,000 | 3,600 |
| Domains | Up to 40 included in the license, with a fee of 500ANG for any additional domain above 40 (withoutupper limit) | Up to 40 included in the license, with a fee of EUR250 for any additional domain above 40 (without upperlimit) |
Total annual license fee: ANG 120,000 + ANG 500 per domain per license above 40 Approx.
EUR equivalent: EUR 61,700 + 250 per domain per license above 40.
Fees under the LOK (based on the current draft which is subject to Parliamentary Approval).
B2C
| ANG | *EUR equivalent | |
| Application Fee | 9,000 + one–off Due Diligence fees between 250 and500 ANG per person (depending on role) | 4,600 + one–off Due Diligence fees between 125 and250 EUR per person (depending on role) |
| Annual fee (payable on license issuance) | 48,000 | 24,600 |
| Monthly fee | 4,000 | 2,050 |
| GPT tax / revenue share | 0% | 0% |
| Domains | 500 ANG per annum per domain – unlimited number | 250 EUR per annum per domain – unlimited number |
Total annual license fee in ANG: ANG 96,000 + ANG 500 per domain.
Total annual license fee in EUR: EUR 49,200 + EUR 250 per domain.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Companies that are grandfathered in from direct license under the NOOGH to the LOK do not have to pay the ANG 48,000 on enactment, rather that becomes due for the first time on the anniversary of their license, however the monthly fee will drop from ANG 7,000 to ANG 4,000 and the per-domain fee will also come into force at that point for every domain.
B2B
| ANG | *EUR equivalent | |
| Application Fee | 9,000 + one–off Due Diligence fees between 250 and500 ANG per person (depending on role) | 4,600 + one–off Due Diligence fees between 125 and250 EUR per person (depending on role) |
| Annual fee (payable on license issuance) | 48,000 | 24,600 |
| GPT tax / revenue share | 0% | 0% |
| Monthly fee | 0 | 0 |
| Domains | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Current “sublicense” holders who receive a new direct license under the NOOGH will have their business operations transferred immediately to the GCB regulatory system and be subject to the license conditions. Any existing contractual arrangement with the master license holder is the responsibility of the two parties to that agreement without interference by the GCB.
We advise our current Clients to contact us at their earliest convenience to proceed with filing a direct application with GCB.
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