Why Anjouan for a Gambling Licence
Anjouan gives you a regulated gambling licence faster and at lower cost than any other jurisdiction we serve, with one authorisation covering every major vertical and a regime built around crypto-facing operators. Anjouan is an autonomous island of the Union of the Comoros, and its gaming licence is issued by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. For an operator who wants to be live and taking bets quickly, in non-US markets, without locking up capital or building European substance, it is the obvious starting licence, and it is why we deliver here.
The speed and cost are real, but the licence is worthless if your payment layer does not hold up under banking scrutiny—which is why we build the compliance stack once, to tier-1 payment-counterparty standard, not the AOFA minimum. Most operators learn this too late, after their regulator has approved them but their bank has walked away.
Fast and low-cost. The AOFA review is documentary, with no on-site inspection, so grant typically runs in weeks from a complete submission rather than the months a heavier regime takes. There is no fixed minimum paid-up capital and no requirement for a local director, local staff or local premises beyond a registered office and agent. That keeps your set-up budget low and your idle capital at zero, which is exactly what a start-up or a crypto-native operator launching a new brand needs.
One licence, every vertical. A single Anjouan eGaming licence covers casino, sports betting, poker, lottery, betting exchange, eSports and crypto-gaming, rather than forcing a separate application for each product line. You can launch a multi-product platform on one authorisation and add verticals without re-licensing. Software suppliers and platform providers take the separate B2B recognition certificate, which we file instead where that is the model.
Built for crypto. Anjouan is one of the established homes for crypto-denominated gaming. The licence accommodates crypto wagering, and the regime does not treat a crypto casino as an exotic case. For operators whose players deposit and withdraw in digital assets, that removes a layer of friction that more conservative jurisdictions still impose.
Which Business Models Suit Anjouan
Anjouan fits operators who value speed, low cost and crypto support over premium banking and tier-1 recognition. Before we file, we confirm your products, target markets and payment plan genuinely fit the licence, and we tell you plainly when a heavier jurisdiction would serve you better.
- B2C online casinos. A single eGaming licence covers slots, live and table games and the rest of a casino product set, so you can launch a full casino on one authorisation and scale the game library without re-licensing.
- Sportsbooks and betting exchanges. Sports betting, in-play markets and exchange-style products sit inside the same licence as the casino, which suits combined sportsbook-and-casino brands targeting Latin America, Asia, Africa and the CIS.
- Crypto casinos and crypto-native operators. Anjouan is one of the most established routes for crypto-denominated gaming, so an operator built around digital-asset deposits and withdrawals gets a licence that fits the model rather than fighting it.
- B2B software and platform suppliers. Studios and platform providers take the B2B recognition certificate, giving licensed operators a credentialed supplier without the operator-grade obligations of a full B2C licence.
- × Operators needing tier-1 acquiring and premium banking. If your model depends on Tier-1 European acquiring and top game-studio contracts from day one, the Isle of Man is the route that opens those doors. We will tell you straight.
- × Operators targeting the United States or other blocked markets. The regulator enforces a binding geo-block list. We will not act for US persons, and we map your markets against the blocked list before you commit.
- × Operators needing EU market access. An Anjouan licence does not confer EU access. Where regulated EU distribution matters, we scope a different structure with you rather than over-promise on this one.
What We Do for You
We deliver the licence, we do not hand you a checklist and step back. From the first scoping call to the day your authorisation is granted, you deal with one accountable firm and our in-country specialists. We file the work and we stand behind it.
- Form your company. We incorporate your Anjouan International Business Company, appoint the registered office and registered agent on the island, and structure the ownership and management so the application is clean before it is filed.
- Build the compliance programme. We draft the AML/CFT manual, the responsible-gambling and player-protection policy, KYC and source-of-funds procedures, sanctions screening and the business plan and platform description the AOFA wants to see. We build to the standard tier-1 banking and payment counterparties expect, not just the AOFA minimum, because the payment layer is where weak files fail.
- Prepare the people and the proof. We assemble the fit-and-proper files for directors, officers and ultimate beneficial owners: certified passports, proof of address, CVs, bank references, police clearances, source-of-funds declarations and UBO declarations, in the form the regulator accepts first time.
- File and manage the application. We submit the complete eGaming application through the AOFA’s registered-agent process and handle every regulator query and information request through to grant. You are not chasing a portal; we run it.
- Stand up the payment and banking layer. We pair the licence with an EU or EEA payment-agent company that holds the operating account and acquiring relationships, and we arrange the crypto on and off-ramp structure separately. We open these conversations during the application so the rails are ready when the licence is.
- Run ongoing compliance. After grant we set up the renewal calendar, the annual police-clearance refresh on every person conducting business, and the AML reporting cycle, so the licence stays in good standing rather than lapsing unnoticed.
We scope and quote each engagement to your products, markets and payment plan. Tell us what you are building and we will map your route to a granted licence and price it.
Regulatory Framework
Gambling in Anjouan is licensed by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority under the island’s offshore-finance and gaming legislation of 2005, with the International Online Gaming Licence issued under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act. The AOFA administers the regime through a registered-agent network, and the licence authorises gaming activity directed at non-Comorian players outside the regulator’s geo-block list. Anjouan is an autonomous island within the Union of the Comoros, and the licence is an offshore gaming authorisation rather than a European-style regulated-market permit.
The licence permits casino, sports betting, poker, lottery, betting exchange, eSports and crypto-gaming under one B2C authorisation; the B2B recognition certificate is the route for software and platform suppliers rather than operators. The regulator’s geo-block list is binding and covers the United States, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and other restricted territories, and the licence confers no EU market-access rights. We classify your products and confirm your target markets against the block list before filing, so the licence matches your distribution rather than constraining it after the fact.
What the AOFA Requires
An Anjouan licence needs an Anjouan IBC, a registered office and agent on the island, fit-and-proper owners and officers, and a documented AML and player-protection programme. There is no minimum paid-up capital and no local-director, local-staff or local-premises obligation. The binding constraint is documentation quality and the strength of your beneficial-owner and source-of-funds evidence, because that is what the payment and banking layer scrutinises even harder than the regulator does. We prepare each requirement to the standard that clears both.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Entity type | Anjouan International Business Company (IBC) |
| Minimum capital | None fixed |
| Minimum directors | One; individual or corporate; no residency requirement |
| Minimum shareholders | One; individual or corporate |
| Foreign ownership | 100% permitted; unrestricted |
| Registered office and agent in Anjouan | Required |
| Local director / staff / premises | Not required |
| Fit-and-proper review | All directors, officers and ultimate beneficial owners |
| Annual police-clearance refresh | Required on every person conducting business |
| AML/CFT and responsible-gambling programme | Required; built to operator and payment-counterparty standard |
Fit-and-proper and source of funds
The AOFA assesses directors, officers and ultimate beneficial owners on integrity and financial soundness. Each person submits a certified passport copy, proof of address, CV, bank reference, police clearance, source-of-funds declaration and a UBO declaration. The review is documentary, but the source-of-funds and beneficial-owner evidence is exactly what your payment-agent and banking partners examine most closely, so we build these files to the standard that survives an EU compliance review rather than the lighter standard the regulator alone would accept.
The compliance stack, built once
Beyond the AOFA file itself, the operation needs an AML/CFT manual, an enterprise risk assessment, sanctions screening, transaction and wallet monitoring, a responsible-gambling and player-protection policy, complaints handling, and business-continuity, cybersecurity and data-protection policies. Tier-1 banking and payments counterparties expect this fuller stack as a condition of onboarding, regardless of the licence. We build it once, to the higher standard, so the same documentation serves the regulator and the payment layer.
Application Process and Timeline
Anjouan is one of the fastest gambling licences available: the AOFA typically grants in weeks from a complete submission. Most of the calendar time is preparation and the payment-and-banking layer, not the regulator’s review, so the way to compress the schedule is to run formation, the application and the payment structure in parallel rather than in sequence. That is how we sequence it for you.
Stage 1 1–2 weeks
We form your company
We incorporate the Anjouan IBC, appoint the registered office and agent, and set up the ownership and management structure so the application file is clean from the start.
Stage 2 2–4 weeks
We build the compliance programme
We draft the AML/CFT manual, the responsible-gambling and player-protection policy, KYC procedures and the business plan and platform description, and we assemble the fit-and-proper and source-of-funds files for your owners and officers.
Stage 3 parallel
We stand up the payment layer
We arrange the EU or EEA payment-agent company that holds the operating account and acquiring, and the crypto on and off-ramp structure. We run this alongside the application so banking is not the bottleneck at launch.
Stage 4 1 week
We file
We submit the complete eGaming application and annexes through the AOFA’s registered-agent process and pay the licence fee.
Stage 5 weeks
We manage the application to grant
We handle every regulator query and information request through to grant. On approval, your licence is issued and you can connect the platform and go live in your cleared markets.
Taxation and Gaming Duty
An Anjouan International Business Company is exempt from corporate income tax, capital gains tax and withholding tax on non-resident income, and a properly structured offshore gaming operation carries no separate gaming turnover duty. That 0% profile is much of the licence’s appeal, and it is one reason the fixed cost of operating from Anjouan stays low. It is also why payment counterparties apply enhanced due diligence, which is precisely the friction we engineer around.
| Tax | Position |
|---|---|
| Corporate income tax (CIT) | 0% on non-resident IBC income |
| Gaming turnover duty | None on a properly structured offshore operation |
| Capital gains tax | 0% |
| Withholding tax (dividends, interest, royalties) | 0% on IBC outbound flows |
| VAT / GST on gaming services | Exempt |
| Annual licence and renewal fees | Government fees payable to the AOFA; due by the stated renewal date |
The tax analysis that actually matters is rarely the Anjouan side. It is the home-jurisdiction position: whether the company has genuine substance somewhere recognisable, whether your home-country controlled-foreign-company rules attribute its profits to you, and how the structure holds up under substance review. We flag this at the outset and tell you to take home-country tax advice before relying on the headline 0% position, rather than letting it become a problem after launch.
Ongoing Compliance
The licence is not a one-off filing. It must be renewed by the stated due date, the annual police-clearance refresh applies to every person conducting business, and the AML/CFT and responsible-gambling programme must run in practice rather than sit in a folder. The licence cancels automatically, with personal officer liability for activity conducted after cancellation, if renewal is not paid or prohibited activity is carried on, so the renewal calendar and the geo-block discipline are not optional.
In practice the ongoing programme means real AML monitoring and suspicious-activity procedures, sanctions screening kept current, wallet monitoring on crypto flows, self-exclusion and player-limit workflows that actually function, complaints handling, and the records that prove all of it. We set up the reporting calendar, keep the policies current as your product set changes, and hold the renewal and clearance dates so the licence stays in good standing year after year.
Banking and Payments
Banking is the constraint that turns an Anjouan licence into a working business, and it is part of what we deliver. Tier-1 European banks rarely take an Anjouan-only structure directly, so the proven approach is to pair the licence with an EU or EEA payment-agent layer that holds the operating account and the acquiring relationships, with crypto on and off-ramps handled separately.
For fiat flows, the payment-agent company in a recognised EU or EEA jurisdiction holds the operating account and the card-acquiring relationships and contracts back to the Anjouan licensee, which is what makes the structure bankable. Any EU-targeting crypto on and off-ramp must run through a properly authorised provider rather than the operator itself, because the operator is usually not a crypto-asset service provider but its ramp partner is. We open and drive these conversations during the application phase, alongside the filing, so banking and crypto settlement land when your licence does. Banking is one of our core services here, and it is the one we make sure works.
How Anjouan Compares
Anjouan competes with the other four gambling jurisdictions we deliver in: Curaçao (the established workhorse), the Isle of Man (the premium choice), and the Canadian First Nations regimes of Kahnawake and Tobique. The decision turns on speed, cost, banking depth and recognition, and Anjouan sits firmly at the fast, light, low-cost end.
| Factor | Anjouan | Curaçao | Isle of Man | Kahnawake | Tobique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulator | AOFA | Curaçao Gaming Authority | Gambling Supervision Commission | Kahnawake Gaming Commission | Tobique gaming authority |
| Speed to grant | Weeks | A few months | Longest of the five | A few months | A few months |
| Cost & capital | Lowest; no minimum capital | Moderate | Highest | Moderate | Moderate |
| Substance required | Office and agent only | Resident managing director, on-island hosting | Demanding substance and screening | Hosting on KGC infrastructure | Light to moderate |
| Banking depth | Needs EU/EEA payment-agent layer | Banks better than light offshore options | Tier-1 acquiring and premium banking | Recognised; mid-tier banking | Recognised; mid-tier banking |
| Crypto-gaming | Established home for it | Well established | Permitted under conditions | Permitted under conditions | Permitted under conditions |
| Best for | Fast, low-cost, crypto-native launches; non-US markets | LatAm, Asia, Africa, CIS without European cost | Serious long-life brands needing credibility | Recognised offshore licence, no local gaming tax | Recognised offshore licence, no local gaming tax |
The key difference: Anjouan wins on speed, cost and crypto support, and trades away direct tier-1 banking and EU access to get there. Curaçao costs a little more and banks better; Kahnawake and Tobique add recognition without European substance cost; the Isle of Man is the premium, fully respected route that opens Tier-1 acquiring and top game-studio contracts but takes the longest and costs the most. We deliver all five, so if another jurisdiction fits your markets and budget better, we will tell you and file there instead. Start from the gambling licensing hub if you want the full decision set.
Not sure Anjouan is the right tier?
Tell us your products, target markets and budget. We will recommend the licence that fits across all five jurisdictions we serve, then form the company, file the application and arrange the payment layer. We deliver it directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Tomberg & Partners actually do for an Anjouan gambling licence?
We deliver the whole licence and stand behind it. We form your Anjouan IBC, appoint the registered office and agent, build the AML/CFT and responsible-gambling programme, prepare the fit-and-proper files for your owners and officers, file the eGaming application with the AOFA and manage every regulator query through to grant. We pair the licence with an EU or EEA payment-agent layer so the fiat rails work and crypto on and off-ramps are in place. You deal with one accountable firm and our in-country specialists. Contact us and we will scope and quote your case.
How much does it cost?
It depends on your products, target markets and the payment structure you need, so we scope each engagement and quote it rather than publish a number. Anjouan imposes no fixed minimum capital, so your budget is driven by the company, the compliance build and the payment-and-banking layer rather than a locked deposit. There are government licence and renewal fees payable to the AOFA. Tell us what you are building for a quote.
What does a single Anjouan eGaming licence cover?
The International Online Gaming Licence is a broad B2C authorisation covering casino, sports betting, poker, lottery, betting exchange, eSports and crypto-gaming under one instrument, rather than a separate licence per vertical. Software suppliers and platform providers take the separate B2B recognition certificate instead. We confirm the right instrument for your model before we file, so you are neither under-licensed nor paying for permissions you do not use.
Can I run a crypto casino under an Anjouan licence?
Yes. Anjouan is one of the most established homes for crypto-denominated gaming, and the eGaming licence accommodates crypto wagering subject to AML and wallet-monitoring conditions. The operator itself is usually not a crypto-asset service provider, but its on and off-ramp partner is, so any EU-targeting crypto rails must run through a properly authorised provider. We build the structure so the payment layer holds up rather than collapsing at the first compliance review.
Which markets can I serve, and which are blocked?
An Anjouan eGaming licence is built for operators targeting non-US markets across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the CIS. The regulator enforces a binding geo-block list covering the United States, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and other restricted territories, and the licence does not confer EU market access. We will not act for US persons. We map your target markets against the geo-block list before you commit, so the licence fits your distribution rather than blocking it.
Will tier-1 European banks accept an Anjouan-licensed operator?
Tier-1 European banks rarely take an Anjouan-only structure directly, which is the licence’s main trade-off. The proven solution is to pair the Anjouan licence with an EU or EEA payment-agent layer that holds the operating account and acquiring relationships, with crypto on and off-ramps handled separately. We arrange this layer as part of delivery, so the licence becomes a working business rather than a certificate the payment providers will not bank.
How long does an Anjouan gambling licence take?
Anjouan is one of the fastest gambling licences available. The AOFA typically grants from a complete submission in weeks rather than months, because the review is documentary with no on-site inspection. Plan a longer end-to-end timeline once company formation and the payment-and-banking layer are included, since banking is consistently the longest and least predictable step. We run formation, the application and the payment structure in parallel, which compresses the calendar.
How is an Anjouan gaming company taxed?
An Anjouan IBC is exempt from corporate income tax, capital gains tax and withholding tax on non-resident income, and there is no separate gaming turnover duty on a properly structured offshore operation. The tax analysis that actually matters is at home: whether the company has substance somewhere recognisable, and whether your home-country controlled-foreign-company rules attribute its profits to you. We flag this early and tell you to take home-country tax advice before relying on the headline 0% position.
Get an Anjouan gambling licence quote
We form your company, build the compliance programme, file with the AOFA, obtain the licence and arrange the payment layer. Tell us what you are building and we will map your route to a granted licence and quote it.
Banking & Payments
A company and a licence still need a bank account
Banking is one of our three core services. We help high-risk and regulated businesses open the bank and payment accounts that others refuse: we work directly with EU EMIs, payment institutions and crypto-aware banks, confirm appetite before you apply, and make the introduction. Take it with your company and licence, or on its own.
Related Services
- Gambling & iGaming Licensing: compare Anjouan, Curaçao, the Isle of Man, Kahnawake and Tobique
- Offshore Company Formation: IBC incorporation for licensed operators
- High-Risk Businesses: formation, licensing and banking for high-risk operators
- Business Banking & Payments: payment-agent and acquiring structures for gaming operators