Master licence holders in Curaçao can be held accountable for the shortcomings of their sublicensees, according to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.
The decision came after a judgement against Cyberluck by the Joint Appeals Court of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in 2022, which ordered the master licensee to pay outstanding winnings to two players a sublicensee had failed to pay. The higher court has now found that Cyberluck has no grounds for appeal.
The development will be felt across the region, with it likely to force master licensees to tighten their grip on the actions of sublicensees. It epitomises a new era for Curaçao, which recently emphasised the need for operators to have a presence on the island and ensure they are in touch with developments there.
Significantly, the ruling came from the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which is the highest court in all constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including Curaçao.
Additionally, the decision was made during a period of regulatory transformation for Curaçao. In July, the portal for B2B and B2C gaming firms to apply for Curaçao licensing reopened for the first time since its previous closure on 30 April.
That opening of the application process makes up a key part of a new era for the regulatory framework in the jurisdiction.
At the time, Aideen Shortt, advisor to the Curaçao Gaming Control Board, revealed to CasinoBeats that “it means guaranteed continuity of business”.
She added: “All of the sub-licensees had the opportunity, and had this six-month timeline in which they could make an application on the portal. And in doing so, they locked in the ability to get grandfathered through when the lock gets enacted.
“That closed on 30 April and with that, we had high expectations but we actually were completely surprised. We have 741 licence applications. So we were expecting a few hundred, we had hoped for a higher number and we got 741 – which is just absolutely fantastic.”
The new framework was also welcomed by 500.Casino COO Christoffer Andersson who stated: “It has been relatively smooth sailing for us, what Curaçao is asking for their ‘2.0’ licence is something we have already been applying for a long time.
“At the end of the day, it is still a process to renew and fill in a load of paperwork.”
He added that he “believes it is good to keep the regulations on a decent level, but without restricting players or operators”.
Andersson is now confident that Curaçao will benefit from “a better reputation because of these changes, and several bad apples will not continue to operate under a Curaçao licence”.
The urgency for Curaçao to eradicate the presence of bad actors was elevated in June as a political dispute in the country saw a new tax treaty between Malta and Curaçao delayed.
Jeopardy over the tax agreement, which had previously been agreed in 2015 came from the NSC, the opposition party in Curaçao and largely stemmed from fears over tax avoidance.
