.svg)
As Curaçao prepares to announce its new licensing fees next week, a key advisor to the minister of finance has addressed a host of “mistruths” about incoming regulatory changes.
Aideen Shortt, PR and marketing consultant for finance minister Javier Silvania, said there is still “no hard date” for when the National Gambling Ordinance (LOK) will be enacted but she “expects “ it to be “around the start of January” 2024.
The draft law is still in its “final stage”, Shortt said at the SBC Summit in Barcelona on Thursday (September 21), where she called on potential licensees to “come to us directly for correct information”.
"We're not reinventing the wheel. There is nothing that's going to be a gotcha moment [in the law]. Everything is already in the industry. If anybody's surprised that you're new to the industry, we're not reinventing anything," Shortt said.
The objective of the legal changes is to make "a really workable, practical, good, reputable jurisdiction. It's not to kill the industry. It's not destroying it," she said.
Curaçao is hoping these changes can help develop its workforce, as for “an industry of this magnitude there are very little physical benefits for the island", according to Shortt.
There are still plans to have just one licence type when LOK is enacted, with B2B licences not even being on the table "for at least one year” after it comes into force.
B2B suppliers, therefore, “don't need a licence the second market opens” and Shortt explained that the regulator will "take a recognised certification" for suppliers games.
When it comes to responsible gambling in the new law, Shortt said there are going to be “no surprises” as consumers will need to be able to self-exclude and set limits.
Silvania will set out the new licensing process, types and fees at the SiGMA Curaçao Summit on September 26.
