Curaçao Gaming License: How the New LOK Regime Works

A Curaçao gaming license is a licence to offer online gambling issued by the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance, known by its Dutch acronym LOK. For years Curaçao was the most common licence for operators serving markets without a local regime. The LOK, in force since 24 December 2024, changed how that licence works.

What changed with the LOK

• A new regulator. The Gaming Control Board became the Curaçao Gaming Authority, with wider supervisory powers.
• No more sub-licences. Under the old offshore ordinance, a handful of master licence holders issued sub-licences to hundreds of operators. Under the LOK, every operator needs its own licence, issued directly by the CGA.
• Two licence types. A B2C licence for operators offering games or betting to players, and a B2B licence for suppliers such as platform providers and game studios.
• Real requirements. Licensing now comes with checks on ownership and finances, and ongoing obligations on anti-money laundering, responsible gambling and player complaints.

What it costs

The CGA publishes its fee schedule. The version published in October 2025 sets:

• an application fee of €4,592, for both B2C and B2B applications, plus small per-person fees for each ultimate beneficial owner checked;
• for a B2C licence, €47,450 a year: a €24,490 licence fee paid to the National Treasury plus a €22,960 supervisory fee paid to the CGA;
• for a B2B licence, €24,490 a year as a single supervisory fee.

Those are the regulator’s fees only. Setting up and running a Curaçao company, local management, compliance staff or services and legal advice usually cost more than the licence itself. Check the CGA’s current schedule before budgeting: fees are revised.

What an operator needs

• A company in Curaçao, registered there and with local management.
• Ownership and integrity checks on the people and companies behind it, including the ultimate beneficial owners.
• An AML/CFT framework: customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, reporting of suspicious activity.
• Responsible gambling measures and a player dispute procedure approved by the regulator.
• Technical and game information on the platform and the games offered.

Detailed requirements evolve as the CGA issues policies and guidance; a local legal adviser is the practical reference for a specific application.

What a Curaçao licence does not do

It does not let an operator accept players in markets that have their own licensing regime. The UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and a growing number of other countries require a local licence, and many actively block unlicensed operators — through payment blocking, domain blacklists and enforcement against advertising. A Curaçao-licensed brand has to keep those markets out, not just avoid targeting them.

That is the real dividing line in iGaming: a Curaçao licence for markets without a local regime, local licences — UKGC, MGA, ADM, GGL and the others — for markets that have one. More on how the industry is organised in what is iGaming.

Why it matters for SEO

Licensing defines where a brand can compete in search. A Curaçao-licensed site has to keep regulated markets out of its targeting — hreflang, local pages and links included — or it risks building visibility exactly where it is not allowed to operate. And in markets with strict regimes, Google itself restricts gambling ads to licensed operators, so organic search becomes even more important. The market-by-market approach is described on the iGaming SEO page.

Sources

• Curaçao Gaming Authority — official site, licence register and published policies, including the LOK fee schedule.

This guide is a summary for orientation, not legal advice.