Anjouan gambling licences under legal challenge

[Justbillywitt]

Comoros had to wait until Anjouan issued about 1,500 gaming licences before it decided to act. If not for the investigation carried out by the Guardian, this so-called illegality would have continued. I am convinced that the government of Comoros has been benefiting from the growing status of Anjouan as a crypto, gambling, and financial license hub.

If the law declared that Anjouan lacks the power to issue licenses, the ones it has issued would become invalid. Casinos would have to seek other expensive licences because Anjouan was cheap. They might have to pay as high as £80,000 for a Curaçao licence. Meanwhile, an Anjouan license is as low as £20,000.

There is no way that the government of Comoros won’t be benefiting from Anjouan gambling license activities. Maybe they want a bigger share from what they were getting, due to Anjouan increasing popularity and Anjouan is not yielding to their terms. That could be the reason for the fallout that has brought the legal process. The licensing didn’t start this year and it was not hidden over the years. So why now they just realizing that there is illegality in their activities? Government has a way of getting what they want, but if it’s not going their way they will come up with propagandas just to make sure they bring the people involve down.

[freedomgo]

The problem is that Anjouan is giving out licence to illegal gambling platforms...

Your statement is quite confusing, isn't the reason they were given a license to make their operations legal?

[Cryptomultiplier]

The problem is that Anjouan is giving out licence to illegal gambling platforms and that's what Comoros has kicked against because it can cause future problems for them. Since, Comoros is aware that Anjouan is giving out gambling licence to casinos, they wouldn't rule it as invalid rather, Comoros will fine Anjouan and put strict laws on getting licence from Anjouan and monitor their operations strictly. This is because they're also benefiting from the business. I just feel that assuming the UK issue didn't pop up about casinos with Anjuoan license targeting vulnerable gamblers in UK, Comoros might feel unconcerned about who Anjouan gives gambling license to.

Comoros citing illegal operations under national law and Anjouan being an independent island is quite a kind of scenario that makes me think that there's a bigger brain behind this legal challenge, because it should have been Comoros who issued the license but chose not to so why are they poke-nosing when they also benefit from the share of the pudding.

Many crypto focused casinos will definitely lose a lot if Anjouan losses this case and be forced to opt for more expensive licenses with stricter structures and the worst is those that are just starting up and are low on liquidity, they may just close up shop without even starting at all.

[Findingnemo]

Yes, it will invalidate the license but in reality it will take too long and almost forever to get a judgement in this case and I don't really know about these countries but if they already claim as individual country while present inside a nation then they have the infleunce and political support from outside world to exists.

[Frankolala]

The problem is that Anjouan is giving out licence to illegal gambling platforms...

Your statement is quite confusing, isn't the reason they were given a license to make their operations legal?

My bad for not expressing myself properly. You don't get the point. You can get a licence for the sake of carrying out your operation so that gamblers can see that you are a legal casino but the country where you are exploring from are not aware that you are operating in their region and you didn't meet their government to register as a legal casino in their jurisdiction.

It's same thing that happened to Binance that made the US fine them and Nigeria too or is Binance not a legal crypto exchange. It means that it's isn't Anjouan fault but the casino. You need to work with the government of any country that you doing your business.

[icebar]

I understand that it is not easy to survive from within a country ignoring the rules of that country. I think Anjouan will try to implement the central government's policy immediately. Whatever the general public or the majority wants that happens. From the control of a country, nothing can be done against that country. But it is true that this will not be resolved so quickly. If Anjouan gives proper approval to operate the casino, they also need to have approval from the central level, otherwise the system will definitely be called illegal.

[Alice Bloom]

Yes, it will invalidate the license but in reality it will take too long and almost forever to get a judgement in this case and I don't really know about these countries but if they already claim as individual country while present inside a nation then they have the infleunce and political support from outside world to exists.

Also the first post only says he's preparing legal action which could just be a way to put pressure on Anjouan. Why exactly we'll probably never know but I'd say 99.99% it's all about money.

[sompitonov]

I understand that it is not easy to survive from within a country ignoring the rules of that country. I think Anjouan will try to implement the central government's policy immediately. Whatever the general public or the majority wants that happens. From the control of a country, nothing can be done against that country. But it is true that this will not be resolved so quickly. If Anjouan gives proper approval to operate the casino, they also need to have approval from the central level, otherwise the system will definitely be called illegal.

While online gambling business owners generally understand how to operate in compliance with the regulations of the countries where they are based including the processes for obtaining licenses risks remain, even with a license. Sometimes these risks materialize, however, many owners factor them in and manage to generate significant profit before anything goes wrong often viewing this as their primary objective. Regardless, the disputes arising from this particular island will serve as a lesson, prompting many to draw conclusions that will shape their future operations within the gambling industry.

[Agbe]

As what I've researched, Comoros is the country where Anjouan is located, however, Anjouan has autonomy and its own local government, so the licensing authorities claim that their operations are legal under Anjouan's laws. Now the challenge is that the Comoros government is reportedly preparing legal action against these licensing activities, so if the government wins, could this also be a threat to the validity of the licenses obtained by casinos from this island?

The licenses obtained will not be affected because they were gotten legally from Anjouan under Comoros government and as a local government headquarters as Anjouan or a State under the Comoros government they have the legal authority to issue license to companies to operate under their jurisdiction and only py taxes to the centralized government and if they the Comoros government wins the case, the casino can only change the license to the new operators of the license company and nothing will spoil.

And what can caused such conflict between the center and the subsequent units are disobedience of rebellion and opposition party.

[sunsilk]

Now the challenge is that the Comoros government is reportedly preparing legal action against these licensing activities, so if the government wins, could this also be a threat to the validity of the licenses obtained by casinos from this island?

My first thought is they only want a fair share on what Anjouan earns from the licensing. But understanding how the government works there, could there be a huge political conflict in these islands?

The problem is that Anjouan is giving out licence to illegal gambling platforms...

Your statement is quite confusing, isn't the reason they were given a license to make their operations legal?

As per the article, they describe those as rogue casinos and even its owners. I guess by that means even if they get the license, they're still considered as illegal at some degree.

[adultcrypto]

The casino will get affected on this, since they automatically became an illegal casino. They might also lost the confidence of their partners and also their players.

People should pay close attention with this issue. Its crazy how those casinos got their license would react on this matter, I guess the only solution to do in this case is to transfer on other license provider.

Under this situation, I don't agree that it will go that direction. If the licenses are revoked as a result d this case, it will not take the casinos anything to get new one and that will be achieved even before people will notice. That is why I feel this case will not have serious consequences on the businesses of the casinos.

Operating as illegal does not mean that the reputation of the casino is in doubt but getting approval help add some for of confidence just like you rightly explained.

[Hispo]

Yes, it will invalidate the license but in reality it will take too long and almost forever to get a judgement in this case and I don't really know about these countries but if they already claim as individual country while present inside a nation then they have the infleunce and political support from outside world to exists.

I think this legal challenge should not end up with the cancellation of gambling licenses for casinos which have been lawfully operating under Anjouan regulations, in my opinion.

The fair thing to do, in the case Anjouan losses the lawsuit, would be to continue to allow casinos to use the license, but not to allow new casinos to get licenses and not to give further renewals of licenses either.
That would give some additional time to casinos to find a new regulator and license issuer.

Just my personal thought on this one though, it would.be unfair to have hundreds or thousands of casinos to operate illegally because of this.

[Ishicryptic]

I believe that Anjouan, is an island and a part of Comoros, so in this case the laws of Comoros, supersedes that of Anjouan which is under the country's jurisdiction. If Anjouan, is profiting immensely from issuing gambling licenses to casinos and they are not remitting anything to the central government or remitting what is is considered to be small there are bound to be issues so I feel that it should have been better for Anjouan, to negotiate with Comoros which they are under instead of pursuing lawsuit. If Comoros wins the case it won't only affect Anjouan's issuing of gambling licences it would also affect casinos that are registered with Anjouan. I hope that Anjouan can settle out of court and allow Comoros to have large pieces of the cakes, that is if it's profit sharing that Comoros, is after.

[AVE5]

Interesting news here about the government of Comoros, which is questioning the legality of gambling licences being issued under Anjouan's name.

With a common insight, I'm seeing that there was just a misunderstanding between the federal and the local sectors in the government.
Maybe if the case is properly judged, the local licensing authorities will have to remit percentage for the incomes to the higher government.
If gambling is treated legal in the country as at then, that'll be a minor issue and the existing operating licensed casino's can still be function but if strong law holds the local authorities, then it affects the casino's too.
The local level of governments is definitely answerable to the higher government.

[Cointxz]

As what I've researched, Comoros is the country where Anjouan is located, however, Anjouan has autonomy and its own local government, so the licensing authorities claim that their operations are legal under Anjouan's laws. Now the challenge is that the Comoros government is reportedly preparing legal action against these licensing activities, so if the government wins, could this also be a threat to the validity of the licenses obtained by casinos from this island?

here's some relevant words from the news
.

If Comoros win then I believe Anjouan will be force to comply to the regulations set by Comoros considering that the main reason for this legal challenge is sharing the pie on Anjouan license profit due to the demand for their license.

I Anjouan will let all their client suffer if ever they will lose so I believe there will be some settlement or negotiation in an event that they are on the losing side.

I believe they will be moving to another licensing provider with regulations as lax as Anjouan's. the only reason Anjouan is popular is because the licensing fee is not that expensive and the regulations are not that strict compared to regulators in countries like the US and UK. So let's see how this develops but i'm sure casinos are already aware of this and they also have a backup plan.

Yeah, This will be the case if Anjouan changes their current regulations given to operators if they lose this legal battle.

So far, there’s a few alternative to Anjouan license when it comes to similar regulations and most of them are not tested yet so I’m sure Anjouan will not make this big changes considering that they are now the top choice.

[EluguHcman]

The Comoros is a strictly Muslim country and much of the infrastructure there functions under Muslim principles, which includes rules for financial institutions. The politics of the region are interesting because Anjuan is completely ignoring these principles to the faith chosen by the nation's people to go and issue gambling licenses for the whole world.

Yeah i recently read that the Comoros is a Muslim side of the world.
I won't be surprised if the two side authorities don't have a common understanding because, the Anjuan seems not to follow the ethics of the national licensing authorities.

Following the strictness of the religion which does not encourage gambling from the national council might even be that they won't be able to have any negotiation with for the Anjuans government has is going against their religious practices and the laws governing the regulatory activities and politics.

[danherbias07]

I didn't know anything about Anjouan until now. 

It's an island. It must be the best hiding spot, and online casinos can claim that they have an office there, which is why the license also came from there. Stricter rules are badly needed when it comes to licensing. The victims of scam online casinos and gambling addiction are growing, while there are so many gambling sites that are being created thanks to the lower cost of a license.
I don't know if there's an organization for the owners of the licensing companies, but they need to meet to keep everything in line, and they will have the same goal of keeping online casinos in check.

[iv4n]

The island of Anjouan, rising out of the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar, is a corner of the Earth that few people have heard of, let alone laid eyes on.

But here comes the twist:

Instead, the island’s name seems to have been co-opted by a small cadre of mostly British businessmen flogging unofficial “licences” for banking, cryptocurrency trading and, it appears, gambling, all from the safety of a leafy London suburb 5,000 miles away.

So it looks like all those licences are being issued from London...  and now The Guardian investigation exposed how these offshore licences are being used to target "vulnerable British citizens " and bypass their regulations.

Pretty interesting article, but it's an old story... The people pulling strings are sitting in big cities and use these small islands like a playground. If (or when) it gets too hot, they will pack up and move to the next "safe" haven.

By the way, nobody is commenting:

BetBolt claims to have paid the actor Bonnie Blue $1.2m to win an auction for the right to name her newborn baby.

True or false? Is there anyone who would accept this offer? 

Well, I am old enough to know how crazy people can be, so I bet that some people (or many) would accept it.

[5W-KILO]

I've never heard this name anjouan before, this will be my first time, it's starting to look somehow with gambling licenses this days, gambling as a whole is huge and that's why illegal casinos are getting licensed without been deteccted.

Gambling needs alot of patches and investigations, there are so many things happening around gambling and I am hating it, but what to expect since it's a flourishing business anyways.

I bet that so many people have turned rich or more because they are able to run casinos for a while and close down later, it's a very lucrative business and it's why many don't mind running the illegal ones.

[Darker45]

After that, what now? Like after the victory, would the licenses be voided or something? Or would the operators have a chance to have that kind of transition period to give them some leeway to what the situation they are in?

I'm just curious if it's retroactive or just the future licenses now and the current licenses would just be waited 'til expiry?

I believe this isn't as serious as it may sound.

If Comoros wins and Anjouan gambling licenses are deemed illegal in the country, then those who obtained them will have to be provided with mechanisms as to how they'll convert to the legal version. They're obtained in good faith, after all.

If they aren't provided with an easier route, then they're left with a handful of other options. They could apply for a new one from Comoros. They may claim damages from Anjouan. They may leave the jurisdiction altogether and get another one from somewhere else.

It's not as if they'll stop operating if Anjouan loses the legal battle against Comoros. It's not as if law enforcement agencies would automatically shut them down for having what a Comoros court found as invalid license.