{"id":155337,"date":"2020-11-15T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=155337"},"modified":"2020-11-15T10:25:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-15T18:25:07","slug":"curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue Online Gaming Hub Cura\u00e7ao Vows to Clean Up Its Act in Return for COVID-19 Rescue Package"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s<\/a> days as a haven for shady online gambling sites may be numbered. A financial bailout package from the Dutch government this month comes with conditions — the island has been told to clean up its act.<\/p>\n

\"Cura\u00e7ao\"
Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath has accepted the terms of the Dutch bailout package following a period of negotiation. (Image: ANP\/Lex van Lieshout)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Travel restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus have decimated the Caribbean island\u2019s tourism industry. Earlier this month, the Netherlands agreed to release the third tranche of a \u20ac125 million ($148 million) support package. In return, Cura\u00e7ao must abide by certain conditions. These involve adopting structural reforms that include tackling economic and financial crime, and establishing an independent regulator for its online gaming sector.<\/p>\n

Cura\u00e7ao is part of the Dutch Caribbean, a former colony that is now an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. But its status as an extremely lax regulator of online gambling has long vexed its former colonial master.<\/p>\n

The Dutch government is in the process of launching<\/a> its own domestic licensing regime, and has had enough of Cura\u00e7ao-licensed gambling sites flouting Dutch laws by targeting players within the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Four Master Licenses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cura\u00e7ao was an early adopter of online gaming. It began licensing operators in 1996, at the very dawn of the industry. In fact, it has been using the same four licenses ever since.<\/p>\n

The government has only ever issued four master licenses, which give their holders the power to grant sub-licenses to pretty much anyone. The master licensees — Cyberluck Cura\u00e7ao, Gaming Cura\u00e7ao, Cura\u00e7ao Interactive Licensing, and Antillephone — also supply turnkey online gaming solutions to prospective operators.<\/p>\n

\n

Sub-licenses are relatively inexpensive and quick and easy to acquire. Once an operator is up and running, taxes are low, regulatory oversight is almost non-existent, and operators are free to target whichever markets they wish, regardless of the laws in those markets. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Not all operators licensed in Cura\u00e7ao are bad.\u00a0 But those that are can thrive in a jurisdiction where oversight is slack.<\/p>\n

New Enforcer <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now, with its economy expected to shrink by 30 percent, Cura\u00e7ao has little choice but to accept the terms that accompany the financial aid package. The island\u2019s government has been given until September 2021 to establish a gaming control board. That will be charged with ensuring that all Curacao license holders \u201ccomply with the laws and regulations in which they operate.\u201d The regulator will also be required to rigorously enforce anti-money laundering measures.<\/p>\n

The news was welcomed by Dutch member of parliament Ronald van Raak, who claims inadequate oversight of the sector is threatening political stability in the Dutch Caribbean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>International crime is so great on the islands that malicious politicians have a lot of power and money, and well-meaning people have no chance,” he told the Dutch parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Saint Maarten, Cura\u00e7ao, and increasingly also on Aruba, you see that the underworld, the gambling mafia, is the boss. Especially with online gambling, you see that billions are being laundered, mainly drug money,” he claimed. “It is a system that is kept up and running by KPMG, by banks, by Dutch tax specialists. “<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s days as a haven for shady online gambling sites may be numbered. A financial bailout package from the Dutch government this month comes with conditions — the island has been told to clean up its act. Travel restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus have decimated the Caribbean island\u2019s tourism industry. Earlier […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":155338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCura\u00e7ao Vows to Clean Up Its Act in Return for Dutch Rescue Package<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Curacao online gambling could be about to get a new image after the island agreed to regulatory reforms in return for Dutch bailout.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cura\u00e7ao Vows to Clean Up Its Act in Return for Dutch Rescue Package\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Curacao online gambling could be about to get a new image after the island agreed to regulatory reforms in return for Dutch bailout.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-15T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-15T18:25:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Eugene-Rhuggenaath-Raymond-Knops-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/\",\"name\":\"Cura\u00e7ao Vows to Clean Up Its Act in Return for Dutch Rescue Package\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Eugene-Rhuggenaath-Raymond-Knops-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-15T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-15T18:25:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Curacao online gambling could be about to get a new image after the island agreed to regulatory reforms in return for Dutch bailout.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/curacao-vows-to-clean-up-its-act-in-return-for-dutch-rescue-package\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Eugene-Rhuggenaath-Raymond-Knops-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Eugene-Rhuggenaath-Raymond-Knops-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath has accepted the terms of the Dutch bailout package following a period of negotiation. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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