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The Curacao Gaming Control Board, in response to the announcement by the Minister for Finance entitled New Curacao Legal Framework – Key Milestones, issued on December 20,2023, provides the following details regarding the authorisation rights pertaining to access and use the GCB Portal.
We are aware of some issues arising due to misconceptions relating the access rights and responsibilities for the account relating only to the application, in contrast to the requirement by the GCB to be notified of all current licensing agreements and operational domains used by Curacao operator’s (the so called ‘census) via a different account.
The term “licensee account” is intended to be used only for a separate account from the “census account”, which is used only to register domains, licenses, and some of them may not ever form part of a licensing application. To avoid confusion, we will be implementing the following guidelines as of January 15, 2024. We would like to clarify the terminology on the portal.
A Licensee Account
A licensee account is an account that is created on a Curacao-incorporated entity’s portal. This entity will be applying for a Curacao license under the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Chance. The licensee account is the main point of contact between the GCB and any license holder during the entire application process.
A licensee account can only be established after a letter of authorization has been sent to the GCB. The licensee applicant will be (and can primarily consist of) those who are currently operating under an agreement with the master licensor. They can also include new applicants or master licensors who wish to operate under the new regime.
The letter of authorization can only be signed if the person signing it is a legal representative (the lawful representative), who appoints an authorized representative to take responsibility for the application of a gaming license on the portal.
This person, while acting as an authorized representative, will also be the portal administrator (see below) with the ability of creating other users with different input and access rights. The applicant is free to choose the identity of the authorized representative. The authorized representative may be an employee or director within the applicant’s organization, or it can be a third-party with whom there is a relationship already (including, but not limited, to CSPs/existing Directors/Master License Holders) or with whom there is a trust relationship.
There are a few other points worth noting:
1. The authorized representative can act as the portal administrator, and create additional user accounts only if authorised by a lawful representative. The GCB does not require the disclosure of the authorisation, but the authorized representative will need to be sure that the authority was given.
2. The master licensors that are required to participate in the census can open a census in their name and have access to the portal. However, they do not have the right to apply for licenses through the census account unless they have been appointed by the legal representative of the license account as their authorized representative.
3. If an authorized representative notifies a census account holder of its intention to use domains that were already registered in a prior census (a prior census), the GCB, as super-administrator, can request that such domains be transferred from the census accounts. This is provided that the GCB is satisfied that notice was given by the authorized representatives. The GCB can take into consideration the fact that an authorized representative acted with bad faith if it later determines (for instance, the applicant did not have any rights with respect to the affected domains). It may also decide to restore domains from the census account on its own volition if the applicant doesn’t proceed with their application.
4. The master licensor’s rights in relation to each licensee account are limited to access to the sublicensee section of the portal where the applicant’s details and domains are visible. The master licensor has the right to access the sublicensee area of the portal, where the applicant’s details and domains can be seen, but not the section for online gaming applications.
The representative authorized is responsible for all portal input information, access rights and administration.
Please note:
- A licensee can apply for multiple licenses on a single account.
- UBOs can operate through different Curacao-incorporated entities and have separate licensee accounts. UBOs can have multiple investments, for example. It is important to note that the disclosure of personal information by UBOs does not have to be repeated for each new license, as the GCB will already be ‘aware’ of them after their first application, subject to updated disclosures which may affect the license decision.
- The license allows unlimited domains to be used by the applicant.
Portal administrators are the only ones who can access multiple licensee accounts or census accounts (see below).
B. Registration of Sublicensees under NOOGH
1. According to the above, master licensors must register sublicensees and their domains associated with them on the GCB Portal in accordance with the ‘census requirement’ to provide the GCB with visibility of current operations.
2. The GCB does not require proof of authority for the appointment of a representative who is delegated the responsibility for the Census Account (the census representative), other than confirming the digital signature of master licensor in the census letter when opening its census account. The GCB does not need to verify that the person signing the census letter of authorization has the legal right to bind master licensor. It will accept what appears to the GCB as ostensible authorisation. The census representative is the same as the authorized representative and license account.
3. The master licensors must cooperate fully with the census, except where A(4) applies and the master licensee is reasonably satisfied that a license application has been submitted for domains referred to in A(4)(i) or (iii). If this is not done, the affected sublicensees must cease operating under their master license by March 31st 2024 (i). The master licensor must stop providing contractual support to sublicensees whose domains are not included in the census by March 31, 2024 if they do not have domains associated with the census.
4. The master licensor does not need to create a census account for a sublicensee or related domains if the account is already in place.
Footnotes:
1. The GCB may seek additional due diligence to confirm that the representative appointed or removed was in possession of all the legal authorities and permissions necessary to carry out the actions he/she/they took.
2. GCB can disable domains that appear to be inactive and are referenced by the census account, or license account. The census representative or authorized representative of the relevant account will be promptly notified.
3. The GCB can be asked to delete domains when the owner of a domain has changed.
4. The portal will have templates for the census letter and letter of authority from 15 January 2024.
Approved by the 10th of January 2024.
