Anjouan Gambling License

Anjouan-more formally, the Autonomous Island of Anjouan-is part of the Union of the Comoros Islands and is located off the coast of Africa. With its relatively small population, Anjouan is quickly becoming a gaming license jurisdiction for online gambling operators that require a flexible but globally recognized regulatory environment with an affordable license. During the past period, the jurisdiction of Anjouan has been in high demand among startups and small businesses seeking some alternative to the jurisdiction of Curaçao, which this year is preparing to create much stricter regulations.

If you want to launch a new online gambling venture on a shoestring budget, or if you are seeking a modern jurisdiction where it is affordable and secure to test and iterate on a new online gambling business idea, then read on; Anjouan is among the most favorable environments in which to accomplish these objectives. Keeping this option in mind, you should be aware that the experts from Regulated United Europe can assist you in every step regarding the licensing process in this very promising jurisdiction.

Advantages of the Anjouan Gambling License

Anjouan is a member of the World Trade Organization, which allows governments to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that regulate international trade. Thus, the Anjouan Gaming License is recognized and respected in countries anywhere in the world, enabling licensees to offer their gambling services to players of a wide range, knowing full well that these services are fully compliant and meet global standards.

Although the gambling regulations in Anjouan are more flexible, with a lower entry barrier and simpler licensing process compared with other jurisdictions, the Anjouan gambling license still is an assurance of credibility and high standards of compliance due to the robustness of the licensing criteria and process. Simultaneously, an applicant for an Anjouan gambling license should demonstrate that it is fit and proper to carry on gambling business, in addition to showing internal policies and procedures for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Such an approach has the effect of facilitating access to the market for new gambling businesses, while at the same time it serves to instill confidence with players who can be assured that licensees in Anjouan are compliant and reliable operators.

While the online gambling industry is presently growing within the jurisdiction of Anjouan, the government is focusing more on rapid responsiveness to the needs of gambling businesses in innovation and infrastructure. In this way, the licensees will be able to become a part of the development of the practical regulatory framework of gambling and, in turn, be assured that the Anjouan license will grant them the opportunity to receive maximum profits and control the rules of responsible gambling by means of protecting players and vulnerable individuals. The infrastructure in Anjouan embraces such gambling-related services and support as cloud services, private server racks, dedicated server management services, and other hosting services.

While other jurisdictions offer different types of licenses with high associated costs per each type of license, the Anjouan regulator has given one license for all gambling activities, allowing gambling businesses to gradually introduce new games and scale business without having to go through the licensing process several times and paying application and licensing fees for each license.

The taxation system in Anjouan also favors gambling licensees as they are not under obligation to pay any taxes on gross gaming revenue, which is a significant privilege compared to many other jurisdictions where various forms of gaming and other taxes are levied. In this way, you will be able to invest more funds in developing your gambling business, including high-standard gambling software and hardware that may open up new markets for you.

GAMBLING LICENSE IN ANJOUAN

Legislative Framework in Anjouan

The Anjouan Betting and Gaming Board (ABGB) is the national authority responsible for licensing and overseeing Anjouan gambling businesses online gambling companies in particular. Its objectives also include the protection and safeguarding of players against any unfair treatment by gambling businesses; imposing ethical and security standards upon licensed operators; and safeguarding such vulnerable people as problem gamblers and minors, among others. ABGB provides an extensive portfolio of support services on compliance issues, marketing, and customer support, to mention a few, to license holders.

Laws pertaining to gaming operations in Anjouan include the following:

• Computer Gambling Licensing Act dated 1999
• Betting and Gaming Act dated 2005
• International Business Companies Act 004 dated 2005
• Anjouan Money Laundering Prevention Act 008 dated 2005
• Offshore Finance Authority Act of 2005

The key legislation for gambling is the Betting and Gaming Act 2005, which has now been joined by online casino gaming, sports betting, video gaming, lotteries, and bingo. It contains the legislation on licensing and ongoing compliance in terms of anti-money laundering processes, responsible gaming, and fairness of play.

The regulatory regime at Anjouan ushers in rigorous licensing with ongoing compliance that ensures licensees are suitable to hold a license, and such licensees demonstrate integrity, competence, security, fairness, and player protection. To that effect, anti-money-laundering policies, Know-Your-Customer, responsible gaming policies, fair play processes, among other world-class regulations, are put in place.

In general, the gambling regulatory framework was developed to attract international gambling business and to offer it an environment that would contribute to its development while concomitantly offering a high level of protection for players and vulnerable individuals. Correspondingly, it is underlined with such values as regulatory transparency, responsiveness, dynamism, efficiency, and adherence to global regulatory standards.

The Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority is the national regulatory body that sees to the enforcement of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. It will be working to establish international standards of regulation with the aim of frictionless identification and elimination of risks to consumers and the good reputation of the Anjouan jurisdiction.

Features of Gambling Licenses in Anjouan

In Anjouan, there is only one type of license, which covers all types of activities concerning online gambling: sports betting, casinos, bingo, lotto, blackjack, online poker, eSports, live games, scratch cards, and blockchain-based games. The Online Gambling License of Anjouan is fully compliant and generally accepted by banks in Europe, various suppliers, B2B service providers of gambling products, and respected by international authorities.

The license is available to B2C and B2B businesses and it’s issued to providers of gaming games, gambling software developers and providers, and operators without cost or other discrimination. It entitles its holder to operate under multiple brand names, making use of multiple web addresses, while also conducting a variety of online gambling promotions. The Anjouan Online Gambling License is also very flexible: it does not require servers to be located at any particular location, while profits are allowed to be cleared by any bank. It allows adding new games at any time, without requiring the filing of an application for a new license or paying an additional fee.

Other impressive features of the Anjouan Online Gambling License include the following:

• One-year licensing
• 2 URLs are included within the standard license; additional URLs are available at extra cost
• Anjouan online gambling license permits licensees to host domains all over the world
• Sublicensing is not allowed

Anjouan Gambling License Applicants Requirements

A Gambling License in Anjouan can be granted only if you establish a local company and fulfill all the requirements, which include determining the identities of the people associated with the applying company, nature of the business, origin of funds, residence, and compliance of internal operation. Compared to other jurisdictions that were well established, the annual license fee stands at a reasonable 15,000 EUR. The paid-up capital should be at least 250,000 EUR.

Other associated fees include:

• Application fee – 1,000 EUR
• Due diligence 1,000 EUR per director
• First-year administration fees – 1,500 EUR

Another major requirement is that applicants are required to purchase equipment for the transit server, which is supposed to transmit all gambling business data to the relevant authorities in Anjouan.

To apply for the license, you will need to prepare the following company documents:

• Incorporation documents
• Business plan
• A copy of internal AML/CFT policies and procedures, including Know-Your-Customer (KYC)
• A copy of the Terms and Conditions that includes underage gaming and responsible gaming policies, as well as player KYC policies
• Agreements with game providers, if applicable
• Proof of domain ownership
• Random number generation (RNG) testing certificates
• Real-Time Transport Protocol agreement

Each officer, authorized person, shareholder, director, beneficial owner or ultimate beneficial owner shall provide the preparation of the following documents:

• A notarized passport copy
• A police certificate of no criminal record from the country of one’s origin
• A CV, which attests to one’s ability to run the daily operations of an intended gambling business, or to assume any other intended position
• Utility bills
• An original of the reference of a bank where the relation exceeds 2 years
• Original professional reference letter from an accountant or lawyer where the relation exceeds 2 years

All the documents should be in the English language, dated within the last 90 days, which are calculated from the receipt of the application form. If your documents are in another language, you will be needing certified translation services. For this, you can approach us, the team here at Regulated United Europe, for assistance to help you find the most cost-effective solution.

Anjouan (Comoro Islands)

CAPITAL	Population	Currency	GDP
Moroni	1,008,246	KMF	$ 3,245

How to Apply for an Anjouan Gambling License

Provided that all the documents are duly prepared and the license application form is correctly completed, the application process normally takes up to 3 weeks, which is extraordinarily swift compared to other jurisdictions. Such swiftness is a testament to the limited amount of bureaucracy that usually permeates the application process, and to efforts by the regulator to streamline the procedures. Such an approach will give you an opportunity to make the new gambling company profitable almost immediately, or transfer an existing business without friction.

The key steps of the Anjouan gambling license application process are as follows:

• All directors, shareholders, and ultimate beneficial owners shall undergo a Fit and Proper test in order to prove that all of them are persons of good conduct.
• Application and other related fees’ payment
• Application form with attachments of required documents to ABGB
• This ABGB verifies the background of financial capability and ethical conduct of all those involved in the application.
• Ascertain that all requirements are complied with, renewable license for one year shall be granted to this applicant
• Pay annual application fee

Once a license for gambling has been granted, the licensee shall legally start gambling activities immediately.

The application procedure seeks assurance over the financial stability, integrity, and technical capability of the applicant. It is, as a matter of fact, a rapid but substantive due diligence verification and scrutiny process of information supplied in the form of an application. In case anything is wrong or missing, the authority will ask for a clarification of the information furnished. Please note that our team can assist in the preparation of documents and the filling out of the application form for the shortest time of turnaround.

GAMBLING LICENSE IN ANJOUAN

How to Setup an Online Gambling Operation Company in Anjouan – for a fee

According to the International Business Companies Act 004 of 2005, an IBC can be incorporated by one or more persons within less than a day, provided all necessary documents are duly prepared in advance. It can be limited by share capital, guarantee, or both. For tax purposes, the IBC is not a resident of Anjouan nor is it obliged to have a presence in Anjouan. Reporting is also not required from it. Registration of such a company may cost about 750 EUR.

Requirements of an IBC:

• Every Company that will be registered in Anjouan must designate a Resident Representative or Registered Agent that is authorized by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority to conduct such business.
• It cannot operate business in Anjouan or with any citizen of Anjouan;
• It is not allowed to obtain or hold immovable property in Anjouan

Documents required for the establishment of a company in Anjouan:

• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association attested and certified
• A certified copy of the original latest audited account or annual report
• A certificate of good standing
• An original bank reference
• A corporate structure
• Substantial shareholders holding at least 5% of the voting power exercisable at the shareholders’ meeting and Directors list
• A certified copy of the Board resolution giving authority to its managers, officers or employees to conduct business on its behalf
• A written declaration by the representative or agent, stating that the demands of the International Business Companies Act 004 of 2005 regarding registration are met.

The basic steps for setting up an Anjouan company are given below:

• Locate a local representative or an authorized agent
• Open a local bank account
• Transfer authorized capital required
• Find a secure payment service provider that will grant your clients a wide range of secure ways for the settlement of services.
• File an application together with all the necessary documents to the Registrar of International Business Companies.
• When the Articles of Incorporation are registered, the Registrar shall issue a Certificate of Incorporation certifying that the company is incorporated as an International Business Company.

Best Anjouan casinos

Compliance Matters Applied to Anjouan License Holders

A number of compliance matters are applied to Anjouan license holders, which must be fulfilled by the license holder to make the license valid and could be renewed every year. In this respect, under the provisions of the Betting and Gaming Act, 2005, it is stipulated that license holders have to submit periodic reports to ABGB, ensure proactive protection of minors and problem gamblers, develop the capability to report instances of money laundering, and inform the national authority.

The ABGB has set up quite high standard AML/CFT policies and procedures that licensees must adhere to. Among the requirements are customer identification, detailed record-keeping of customers’ financial transactions and betting history, proper payment processing, identification of suspicious transactions and reporting, and adequate training for personnel on money laundering and other financial crime prevention. Pursuant to the AML/CFT law, each license holder in a gambling business shall appoint an AML/CFT officer who can be senior employees. Such officer is charged with the duties of setting up appropriate internal policies of relevance and reporting suspicious transactions to the ABGB.

Other key obligations to note:

• All licensees have to develop internal processes to preclude problem gamblers from gaining access to their gambling platforms, which also includes providing information about counseling services to the clients that are considered to be at risk.
• A licensee must always be ready to attend the ABGB meetings arranged for a number of regulatory purposes in due time.
• All licensees must agree to audits of their gaming systems, back end logs of the software conducted by third parties.
• The licensees are free to promote their online gambling business however they see fit, provided that their promotional activities do not harm Anjouan’s reputation or encourage gaming by minors, or cause problems with problem gamblers.
• The licensees of Anjouan regarding online gambling shall be careful and responsible to ensure that providers of the software and hardware associated with gambling are well-reputed firms and duly prepared for smooth function and operation according to the rules and regulations.
• It’s very important to stay updated on the legal developments in the gambling laws of the countries where the licensee offers their services of online gambling and should avoid jurisdictions where gambling is not allowed by the law.
• Any material modification with respect to formerly presented information is to be notified to ABGB, which might be relevant to the right of the Licensee to hold the license.
• Cash book entries related to accounting books can’t be permitted.
• The license holder has to maintain the prescribed financial ratios by ABGB and prepare regular reporting to the authority in general format.
• Any changes in the beneficial ownership of the licensee and any parent and associated companies with a holding of 3% or above shall be notified to the ABGB within 7 days.
• Other licensing jurisdictions in which the applicant has held a license to conduct gambling activities that have been revoked or suspended involuntarily shall be notified to the ABGB.
• The ABGB shall be informed in writing, within 48 hours, of any other important problems or issues arising from the foreign jurisdictions, that may impact on the right to hold the Anjouan license or reflect adversely on the reputation of the Anjouan jurisdiction.
• All periodic fees shall be duly and promptly paid; upon failure of due payment, the license shall be suspended.

If you believe that these regulations are right for you, our team here at Regulated United Europe will be happy to guide you through the process of incorporating a new company and acquiring a gambling license in Anjouan. Having a dedicated legal advisor, tax expert, and financial accountant by your side, the incorporation and application processes will be easy, seamless, and transparent. Feel free to contact us for a personal consultation and set the stage for success long-term.

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