Anjouan Gaming Rejects Claims Its Licences Are Intended for Global Gambling Operations

The gambling regulator of Anjouan has firmly pushed back against suggestions that its licences are designed to provide operators with unrestricted access to betting markets around the world, insisting that its regulatory approvals have never been intended as universal authorizations.

Anjouan, one of the self-governing islands that form part of the Union of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean, has increasingly become a focal point in discussions surrounding unlicensed, offshore and illegal gambling activity, particularly in heavily regulated jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom.

On 10 June, Anjouan Gaming issued a statement through LinkedIn responding to what it described as “public commentary” concerning its licensing framework and comparisons that have been drawn between its regulatory standards and those applied by other national gambling authorities.

The regulator did not identify any specific reports or individuals that prompted the statement. Nevertheless, within the global betting industry, Anjouan is frequently referenced in debates surrounding black market operations, grey market gambling and offshore licensing structures.

“An Anjouan Internet Gaming Licence is not, and has never been presented as, a universal authorisation to operate in every country in the world,” Anjouan Gaming’s Linkedin statement read.

“No licensing authority can exempt an operator from local law in jurisdictions where local authorisation is required.”

Despite the regulator’s position, one of the central challenges it faces is that many of the companies operating under its licences appear, at least in practice, to use them as credentials for international activity. As a result, both established regulated gambling industries and campaigners advocating stricter gambling controls often view the Anjouan licence as carrying a degree of universality.

The United Kingdom provides a prominent example of this debate. As one of Europe’s largest betting markets, the UK has spent years grappling with issues surrounding offshore, illegal and unlicensed gambling, particularly in discussions involving affordability checks, advertising, sponsorship arrangements and taxation.

Understanding the controversy requires distinguishing between several different categories of gambling activity.

Black market gambling refers to fully illegal operations conducted either online or offline, such as the gambling den raided in Manchester last month. These businesses do not possess the necessary licences from the Gambling Commission and are not properly registered with government entities such as Companies House.

Grey market or unlicensed gambling can describe operators that offer online gambling services in countries where no settled regulatory framework or specific legal position for online gambling exists. Companies may choose to operate in these jurisdictions because local legislation does not provide a dedicated licensing regime. Finland and Chile are cited as examples.

Another form of unlicensed activity, seen primarily in the UK, involves companies that do not hold licences or actively operate in the country but enter into sponsorship agreements with Premier League clubs to capitalize on the league’s worldwide visibility, particularly in Asian markets where they do conduct business.

Offshore gambling refers to companies licensed in jurisdictions such as Malta, Curacao or Anjouan that use those licences to establish credibility for international operations, including in countries where they do not possess the required local licences or in markets that fall into the grey area.

According to Anjouan Gaming’s public register, more than 1,300 licences have been issued. A significant number of these operators conduct business internationally under those licences and, depending on whether they hold the appropriate local authorizations, could potentially fit into any of the previously described categories in jurisdictions such as the UK.

A simple online search for “non-Gamstop casinos” reveals several examples of gambling sites licensed in Anjouan that are not licensed in the UK but nevertheless remain openly accessible to British users.

One casino comparison platform, for instance, identifies five websites among the leading non-Gamstop casinos available to UK players. These are casinos that do not participate in the Gamstop self-exclusion programme, a mandatory requirement for companies licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.

The Anjouan Gaming public register lists all five sites as being operated by the Cyprus-based company Softon Ltd under licence ALSI-202409012-FI1. Those brands are Kingdom Casino, Gambiva, Dracula Casino, TenoBet and Smash Casino.

A further search of the regulator’s records reveals another licence covering 28 separate domain names, including 27 using the .best extension and one .com domain. The associated portfolio includes brands such as Daily Luck and Admiral Shark, both of which can be accessed from the UK. An Admiral Shark UK domain also exists, with the company openly presenting itself as a non-Gamstop casino.

In its LinkedIn statement, Anjouan Gaming criticized what it described as “commentary that inflates offshore licensing with local market authorisation” and “treats operator misconduct as proof against an entire framework”.

The regulator also defended the robustness of its licensing procedures, highlighting its licence conditions, due diligence processes, anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements, responsible gaming obligations, technical standards, platform oversight, complaint handling mechanisms, website approval procedures and enforcement actions.

According to information published on its website, applicants must undergo corporate and structural reviews, key personnel assessments and demonstrate that they possess sufficient financial resources to support their operations.

The regulator further states that all applicants are screened against international sanctions lists, databases containing politically exposed persons and adverse media records, adding that licences will not be granted if any concerns emerge during those checks.

Concluding its LinkedIn statement, the regulator said: “Anjouan Gaming remains committed to the development of a practical, transparent, and commercially accessible internet gaming licensing framework, while making clear that licensees remain responsible for lawful conduct in their chosen markets.”

Anjouan is not the only jurisdiction to become associated with debates over offshore and unlicensed gambling. Many non-Gamstop casinos also display Curacao licences, including operators such as MyStake, which some observers regard as one of the largest illegal gambling businesses targeting the UK market.

Even so, the island is likely to remain under intense scrutiny as leading companies operating within regulated markets continue to criticize the expansion of black market gambling.

With the World Cup beginning tomorrow, several European gambling regulators have warned consumers about the dangers associated with black market operators. In the UK, companies including Entain have also raised concerns about unlicensed gambling firms entering sponsorship agreements with Premier League clubs.

Flutter Entertainment added to those warnings by publishing an opinion article written by Dan Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Flutter International, who argued that “the illegal market is winning major ground”.

“Different countries take different approaches, and the strongest operators respect that and operate within those frameworks,’ Taylor wrote.

“We’ve never viewed strong regulation and commercial success as mutually exclusive. That’s worth saying clearly, because it’s often lost in political debate. What’s also lost – and what deserves far more attention – is the scale of the illegal market threat.

“A risk far greater to consumers than competition between licensed operators is the rapid, largely unchecked growth of offshore illegal betting sites that bypass consumer protections, avoid taxation, offer no meaningful responsible gambling safeguards and, in many cases, have direct links to criminality.”

Through its recent statement, Anjouan Gaming appears to be urging observers to separate its role as a licensing authority from what it characterizes as the “misconduct” that may be committed by certain companies operating under its licences.

However, that distinction is unlikely to silence criticism directed at the regulator and the system it oversees, particularly while many of its licensees continue to operate in jurisdictions where they do not possess the legally required local authorizations. The debate is expected to remain especially intense as concerns about illicit gambling activity continue to reach unprecedented levels.

By fLEXI tEAM