The Netherlands Antilles are a part of the Lesser Antilles just off the coast of Venezuela to the South-East of the Virgin Islands. They constitute an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and cover an area of 800 sq km. Willemstad is the capital, and Dutch, English and Papiamento are its official languages. Spanish is not an official language, but is widely used.
The head of the Netherlands Antilles is the ruling monarch of the Netherlands, who appoints a governor to represent him within the jurisdiction. Executive power belongs to a Prime Minister who forms the government; the governor assigned by the monarch has a representative power, as the Netherlands is responsible for defence and international relations of the Netherlands Antilles. Legislative power belongs to delegates of the islands who actively cooperate within the government, and local governors of every island who deal with everyday affairs at a local level. The Netherland Antilles are not a part of the EU.
The economy of the islands mostly depends on tourism, the financial industry, international trade and shipping.
Netherland Antilles Online Gambling Licensing
Internet gaming became a central industry for the island of Curacao in 2002 when the regulation of online gambling was decentralised from the Curacao Gaming Control Board.
The Governor of the Netherlands Antilles may award interactive gaming licences pursuant to the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard.
Online gaming is a legitimate business activity in the Netherlands Antilles, especially Curacao, provided the e-gaming company has obtained the proper licence. The Netherlands Antilles (master) gaming licences are based on the National Ordinance on Offshore Hazard Games.
There are two formats to be licensed:
a) Master licence;
b) Sub-licence.
A master licence licenses the egaming company itself, and in addition opens the possibility to sub-license third parties subject to the responsibility and covenants under the master licence. A sub-licence – under a master licence – offers the same rights to run an e-gaming business legitimately, but without the possibility of further sub-licensing.
The basic requirements for applying for a (sub-)licence are compliance with due diligence and KYC policies, full identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs), satisfactory reference on UBOs as well as detailed and transparent description of the games to be offered. In the case of a master licence application the decision is taken at the sole discretion of the Minister of Justice, based on the documentation submitted by the Netherlands Antilles counsel.
Applicants must first register with the Netherlands Antilles Chamber of Commerce as a locally formed legal entity, either onshore or offshore, and must state the island territories from which they wish to operate. Once an application is completed, the Department of Justice will conduct an investigation. If at the end of six weeks the investigation has been completed and yielded no objections then the applicant can receive a provisional licence, which will be subject to a number of conditions, including a 60,000 (ANG) guarantee deposit.
Online gaming operators may also obtain sub-licences to run Internet gambling operations from the Netherlands Antilles. Host businesses may sub-divide their existing gambling licences for use by partner companies, provided the arrangement complies with applicable fees ranging from USD $2,000 to USD $4,000.
Licence holders pay 10,000 (ANG) per month in licence fees during the first two years. A new licence fee can be determined after the first two years.
The island territory on which a licence holder is located is entitled to demand a contribution of up to 2% of the licence holder’s net gains from interactive gaming.
Who to Contact?
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