Antigua and Barbuda Gaming Licence

The interactive gaming licence is $100,000 a year and the interactive wagering licence is $75,000 a year, both in US dollars. Every application carries a $15,000 non-refundable due diligence fee. The regulator's guidelines add a monitoring system fee of $25,000 a year for one licence or $45,000 for two, and each key person licence costs $1,000 in the first year and $250 a year after. Before operations start the company also lodges a reserve of at least $100,000.

Not in the law in force today. A 3% tax on gross handle was written into the International Business Corporation Act in 2001 for internet gaming, sports books and virtual casinos, and Parliament replaced that section in an amending Act dated 27 February 2003. The 2007 Regulations charge fixed annual fees and no percentage of revenue. The Act's tax exemptions were repealed with effect from 31 December 2018, so the company's income tax position is settled with local tax counsel during structuring.

The Division of Gaming of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, also called the Directorate of Offshore Gaming, handles applications, publishes the licensing guidelines and lists the active licence holders. Since 30 September 2019 the Interactive Gaming and Interactive Wagering Regulations 2007 sit under the Gambling Act 2016, which names the Gambling Authority of Antigua and Barbuda as the regulator of interactive gambling.

Regulation 8 asks the regulator to grant, deny or return an application within 60 days where possible, counted from a complete file. The decision follows a presentation to the Licensing Committee. After approval the company pays the licence fee, lodges the reserve and submits its control system, which the Regulations want at least 90 days before the planned launch.

Yes. The licence goes only to a company incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda as an interactive gaming or interactive wagering company. Its primary servers must be in the country, and the regulator judges physical presence by those servers, at least one resident director and a majority of key managers living there. That is the main difference from Anjouan, which needs no local office.

No. Casino games, games played between players, keno, bingo and lotteries fall under the interactive gaming licence, and betting falls under the interactive wagering licence. An operator that offers both holds both, at $175,000 a year in licence fees. Sublicensing is prohibited, but a licence holder can run further branded sites as storefronts under its own licence.

The FSRC lists its active licensees on fsrc.gov.ag. Each name opens a seal page that gives the licence type, the approved web address and the date the licence is valid until. If a site claims an Antiguan licence and is not on that list, ask the Division of Gaming to confirm it before you rely on it.

No. The licence is not a licence for any other country, and the United States has kept its restrictions. Antigua and Barbuda won WTO dispute DS285 against the US measures on cross-border gambling services, and on 28 January 2013 the WTO authorised it to suspend concessions worth US$21 million a year. That ruling did not open the US market to Antiguan licence holders.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission records memoranda of understanding with the FSRC, signed in 2005 and 2010. They are agreements between the two regulators. If Kahnawake is the licence you are weighing, the fees and process are on our Kahnawake page.

They sit at opposite ends of the offshore range. Antigua costs $100,000 a year for gaming, wants primary servers and a resident director on the island and lodges a reserve of at least $100,000. Anjouan starts from €17,828 a year, takes four to eight weeks and needs no local office. Operators choose Antigua for a regime that has licensed since 1994 under a detailed rulebook, and Anjouan for cost and speed.

Every year. The renewal application goes in at least three months before the expiry date with a $5,000 fee, and the annual licence fee is paid again. What a renewal file contains, and what makes licences lapse, is on our licence renewal page.