September 24 – In a new study by the University of Bristol, Anjouan has been named as the most popular offshore gaming regime to hold a license as a quick and low-cost alternative arrangement to the Philippines and Curaçao.
In ‘Mapping the Offshore Gambling Regulators’, Marko Begovic of the University of Molde and Steve Menary, a freelance journalist, detail the proliferation of offshore gambling regimes and the problems that growth entails, often providing camouflage for illegal operators. The authors argue that offshore regulators enable “betting operators to bypass regulations, selectively apply due diligence systems and to serve as platforms for transnational criminal activity.”
Identifying 20 offshore jurisdictions offering online licensing for gambling, Begovic and Menary write that Anjouan, one of three autonomous islands of the Republic of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean, is the new go-to destination for operators. In total, 825 active gaming licences have been issued and operators benefit from a tax-free regime on gross gaming revenue and minimal public disclosure.
Anjouan’s prominent new role follows an exodus from Curaçao, the Philippines and the Isle of Man. In Curaçao, a new National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) is seeking reform after mounting criticism over the island’s ‘master license’ system which obscured ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) and the role of the Curaçao Gaming Control Board in facilitating money laundering and match fixing through the poorly regulated licensing system.
In 2024, the Philippines banned POGOs (Philippines Online Gaming Operators) because of links with financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture and murder.
The study says that the growth of these pseudo-regulatory systems both responds to, and encourages, a fragmented regulatory environment globally in which unscrupulous operators exploit regulatory arbitrage. In 2023, UNODC estimated that $1.7 trillion is wagered annually on illicit betting markets tied to organised crime.
The authors point out: “The Anjouan license seal pages are nearly identical in structure and design to those provided by some of the old master license holders in Curaçao. Rather than accept regulation, elements of the gambling industry are looking to find new avenues for its illegal growth. The growth of illegal gambling has been confronted with fragmented and often ineffective regulation.”
They add: “One major illegal operator, 1xBet, even published a global guide to evading domestic regulations on betting.”
Recently, 1XBet renewed their sponsorship deal with European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
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