Casino Licences Compared: Curacao, Anjouan, Malta, UK and More
What do the main casino licences really mean? A plain look at Curacao, Anjouan, Malta, the UK, Kahnawake and the Isle of Man, how to check each one, and what we could not confirm.
By CasinoRadius team, updated 5 November 2026, 9 min read
Last checked: 5 November 2026
Almost every casino shows a licence in its footer, but the licences are not the same. This guide looks at six that you will often meet: Curacao, Anjouan, Malta, the United Kingdom, Kahnawake and the Isle of Man. It does not rank them. It shows who issues each one, where you can check it, what we could read on the regulator's own pages, and what we could not confirm. It is education only. It is not advice to play. For the basics, read what does a casino licence actually mean first.
How we checked
We opened each regulator's own website where it would open. Where a page was blocked, empty or did not name a point, we say so. Anything that comes from a news or trade site, and not from the regulator, is marked as such. Page texts were read through a summarising tool, so we give the main points and not long quotes. The facts were read on 5 November 2026, and rules change, so check the regulator's site again before you rely on one.
At a glance
| Licence | Who issues it | Where you can check it | |---|---|---| | Curacao | Curacao Gaming Authority (CGA) | The CGA register, with downloadable lists | | Anjouan | Anjouan Gaming, which says it works under the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority (Union of the Comoros) | Its "verify a licence" page, searchable by licence number, company or domain | | Malta | Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) | The MGA licensee register (we could not open the MGA site, see below) | | United Kingdom | UK Gambling Commission | The public register, with licence status and domains | | Kahnawake | Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Quebec, Canada | A list of permit holders, and a logo certificate check | | Isle of Man | Gambling Supervision Commission | A published list of licence holders |
Curacao
The Curacao Gaming Authority says it is the licensing authority for lotteries, land casinos and online gaming under a new law, the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (known as the LOK). Its page says the law came into effect on 24 December 2024, after a phased reform of online gaming that began in November 2023.
What changed, according to trade and news sources and not the CGA page we read: the old master licence and sub-licence system was replaced by direct licences from the CGA. The dates they give for the end of the transition differ, so we do not state one. A Curacao news report from January 2026 quotes the CGA's supervisory director saying the choice was "to prioritize quality over quantity".
What the CGA's site lists: a Responsible Gaming Policy, a Player Complaints Policy, an ADR (alternative dispute resolution) policy, a Testing Labs policy and AML rules. We saw the titles. We did not read what is inside, so we cannot tell you how strong the rules are or how complaints work in practice. Trade guides say operators must use an approved dispute-resolution provider. We could not confirm that on the CGA's own pages.
How to check: the CGA register page has downloadable lists of licences and certificates. The page itself warns that the lists "do not guarantee the current validity of the licenses". So a name on a list is the start of a check, not the end.
Anjouan
Anjouan Gaming says it is responsible for issuing, supervising and enforcing internet gaming licences, and that it works under the authority of the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority of the island of Anjouan, in the Union of the Comoros.
News reports in October 2026 (the Guardian, as summarised by the trade site Gambling.com, which we did not read ourselves) say the Comoros government rejects that authority's claimed status, and that about 1,500 licensees are on its register, many of them crypto casinos. A spokesperson of the Central Bank of the Comoros is quoted calling it "illegal activity by people abusively using the name of the Comoros Islands". We cannot judge the legal question. It is a reason to be careful with how much weight you give an Anjouan licence.
On the player side, the regulator's page only says licensees have responsible gaming and anti-money-laundering obligations. It links to a complaint process and a responsible gaming page that we did not read. We found nothing on its pages about segregation of player funds, game testing or age checks.
How to check: the "verify a licence" page shows the holder's registered name, licence number, type (B2C for players, B2B for suppliers) and status. The page says it confirms that a licence exists and "does not endorse the holder's services".
Malta
The Malta Gaming Authority is a regulator you will often see in casino footers. But the MGA website did not open for us (it returned an access error), so everything here comes from secondary sources and not from the MGA itself.
Those sources say: a B2C licence is for companies that serve players, and a B2B licence is for suppliers, who may not take player deposits. Licensees must tell players how to complain and refer to an ADR (dispute resolution) body. The MGA's own Player Support Unit stopped judging disputes in April 2019. Players can look the licensee up in the MGA's licensee register by name, website address and status. The exact register address was not verified, so find it from the MGA's own home page, never from a link on a casino site. The MGA itself has warned about fake licence claims, according to trade reports.
United Kingdom
The UK Gambling Commission licenses businesses that offer gambling in Great Britain. A UK licence does not cover players in other countries.
Its public register shows, for each business, the legal name, head office address, licence status (Active, Expired, Pending, Suspended or Revoked), the website domains and whether each is active, and any sanctions or settlements. The Commission notes that trading names and domains are supplied by the businesses and it cannot guarantee their accuracy. A valid entry means the status is Active and the website you are on is in the list.
On complaints, the Commission says you should first complain to the gambling business, and that it does not resolve complaints about gambling transactions itself.
Kahnawake
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is based in the Kahnawake territory in Quebec, Canada. It says protecting players of its permit holders' online gaming is its primary function.
For complaints you can write to the Commission by e-mail or an online form. It says it will "facilitate appropriate solutions" between the player and the operator. It may drop a complaint that has already been handled by a recognised organisation, aired on a public forum or sent to the media.
How to check: the Commission publishes a list of permit holders and a logo certificate programme, where clicking the logo on a site should confirm the operator. We did not open those lists, so we cannot say what an entry shows.
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission says it is the regulator of the gambling industry in the Isle of Man. Its complaints page says to complain to the operator first, then to the Commission with the correspondence and the terms you think were broken. It will not investigate complaints about operators it does not license, and will not act until the operator's own process has finished.
It publishes a list of licence holders on the Isle of Man government website. We did not open it.
What we cannot tell you
- Which licence is best. We found no regulator page that compares itself with others, and we did not read the full rules of any of them. Do not trust a site that says it is "the strictest" licence.
- Whether a licence protects your money. Rules on keeping player money separate, game testing and age checks were not found on the pages we read for most of these regulators.
- Whether the casino may serve you. None of the regulators' pages we read says anything about players in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia or North Macedonia. A licence is permission from the regulator that issued it. Your own country can still treat the casino as unauthorised. See what your own authority says, for example the Croatian Tax Administration's page on unauthorised online gambling, which is cited in our licence guide.
What to check before you play
- Find the licence number and the company name in the casino's footer or terms.
- Open the regulator's website yourself. Type the address or use a search engine. Never use a link from the casino.
- Look the company and the website up in the register. Is the status active? Is the website address listed?
- Read what the regulator says about complaints, and what you would do if you had a dispute.
- Read the casino's terms for the countries it does not accept and for withdrawal limits. Our guide how to check if a casino is safe goes through this step by step.
In short
- Six common licences, six different issuers. A logo in the footer says little by itself.
- Curacao has a new law and direct licences since December 2024. Anjouan's status is disputed by the Comoros government according to October 2026 news reports. Malta, the UK, Kahnawake and the Isle of Man each publish a register or a list.
- We could not read the Malta Gaming Authority site, and we did not read the rules inside the Curacao and Anjouan documents.
- A licence is permission from one regulator. It does not mean the casino is allowed in your country.
- Check the register on the regulator's own website, and read the terms.
Play with care
Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over. It is entertainment, not a way to earn money, and it can be addictive. Play only with money you can afford to lose. Set a deposit limit and a time limit before you start, and stop when you reach them. If gambling stops being fun, talk to someone you trust. Organisations such as GambleAware offer free, confidential help (GambleAware serves people in Great Britain, so look for a service in your own country). Gambling rules and what is allowed differ by country. Check the law where you live before you play. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
