Almost every non GamStop casino displays a licence of some kind. That seal is meant to reassure. The question for a UK player is not whether the licence is real, but what it covers. This guide looks at the jurisdictions most often seen in the footers of casinos marketed to British players, what each regulator requires, and how each compares with a licence from the UK Gambling Commission.
The legal starting point
Since 1 November 2014, the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 has required any business offering remote gambling to people in Great Britain to hold a Gambling Commission licence. This is the “point of consumption” principle: what matters is where the player is, not where the operator is based. Under the Gambling Act 2005, providing facilities for gambling without the right licence is an offence.
So any overseas licence, however strict, answers a different question. It tells you which authority supervises the company in its home jurisdiction. It does not authorise that company to serve customers in Great Britain.
Jurisdictions compared
| Jurisdiction | Authority | Key recent change | Covers Great Britain? | Linked to GAMSTOP? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | Gambling Commission | Wagering cap of 10x and mixed-product bonus ban from 19 January 2026 | Yes | Yes, mandatory |
| Malta | Malta Gaming Authority | Long-established EU regulator | No | No |
| Curaçao | Curaçao Gaming Authority | National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) in force 24 December 2024 | No | No |
| Anjouan (Comoros) | Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (Anjouan Gaming) | June 2026 statement that its licence is not a universal authorisation | No | No |
Curaçao: reform of a familiar licence
For many years Curaçao licensing ran through a small number of master licence holders, which in turn issued sub-licences to operators. Critics argued this made oversight of individual casinos thin. The LOK, approved by the Curaçao parliament on 17 December 2024 and in force from 24 December 2024, replaced that model. The Gaming Control Board became the Curaçao Gaming Authority, which now licenses consumer-facing operators directly and supervises B2B suppliers such as software and payment providers. Applications made before 24 December 2024 were processed under the old rules; those made on or after that date fall under the new law.
The reform raised requirements on due diligence, player protection and anti-money-laundering procedures, and under the direct-licensing model each operator carries responsibility for its own compliance with territorial restrictions. None of that turns a Curaçao licence into a British one. A Curaçao-licensed casino accepting UK players remains outside the British system, and disputes go to Curaçao rather than to an ADR body approved by the Gambling Commission.
Anjouan: fast licensing, limited reach
Anjouan is one of the islands of the Union of the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean. Its online gaming licences are issued through the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. Operators are drawn by speed and cost: applications typically need less documentation and fewer financial guarantees than in tier-one jurisdictions, with approvals often measured in weeks rather than months.
Anjouan licences have become closely associated with casinos appearing in regulated markets such as the UK. In June 2026 the regulator responded publicly, stating that its licence had never been presented as a universal authorisation and that “No licensing authority can exempt an operator from local law.” For a British player, that settles the question in the regulator’s own words.
Malta: a serious regulator, a separate market
The Malta Gaming Authority is a well-established European regulator, and many large groups hold MGA licences alongside a UKGC licence. That combination is the key: operators that want British customers obtain a Gambling Commission licence as well, and their British accounts then follow British rules, GAMSTOP included. An MGA licence on its own does not give a UK player access to UK dispute resolution, UK stake limits or the UK bonus cap. Some MGA-only operators simply decline UK registrations for that reason.
What the UK licence adds
The real comparison is not between one offshore regulator and another, but between all of them and the set of rules a UK player gets automatically from a Gambling Commission licence.
| Protection | UKGC licence | Any non-UK licence, for a UK player |
|---|---|---|
| GAMSTOP participation | Mandatory since 31 March 2020 | None |
| Slot stake limit | £5, or £2 for ages 18 to 24 | Set by the operator |
| Bonus wagering cap | 10x since 19 January 2026 | Set by the operator |
| Credit card gambling | Banned since 14 April 2020 | Often accepted |
| Financial vulnerability checks | Required, from £150 net deposits in 30 days | Not required by UK law |
| Dispute resolution | Approved ADR after 8 weeks | Home-jurisdiction routes only, if any |
| Enforcement by a UK regulator | Fines, suspension, revocation | None |
How big is the market outside the scheme?
Nobody knows precisely. A study commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council from Frontier Economics estimated that £2.7bn a year was being staked on illegal online sites. The Gambling Commission, after a programme of research concluded in November 2025, said it was not yet able to produce a robust and reliable estimate of the market’s size. What the Commission has reported is a ten-fold increase in its own disruption activity against illegal operators since April 2024, describing the illegal market as unsafe, unfair and criminal.
How to read an offshore licence seal
- Identify the regulator named in the footer or terms.
- Ask whether it is the Gambling Commission. If not, the casino is not licensed to serve you in Great Britain.
- Check the Commission’s public register anyway. Some groups hold several licences; the register shows whether the exact domain is covered.
- Treat “not on GamStop” as confirmation that the site is outside the British system.
When an offshore operator closes
A licence’s value is tested when something goes wrong, and the most serious failure is an operator that stops trading with customer balances outstanding. At a UKGC-licensed casino you will have been told, before your first deposit, which of the Commission’s fund protection levels applies, and operators whose funds are not protected must remind you of that every six months since 31 October 2025. The Commission can also act against a licensee that fails to treat customers fairly. For a UK player at an offshore casino, none of those mechanisms applies. Any claim has to be pursued through the home jurisdiction’s processes, assuming they exist and accept complaints from players the operator was never authorised to serve. In practice, that is a long way from the free, independent ADR route available to customers of licensed casinos after 8 weeks.
Licence seals that should worry you
- A seal that is only an image, with no licence number or link to a register entry.
- A licence number that does not appear on the named regulator’s own website.
- A company name in the terms that differs from the one on the licence.
- Marketing aimed at UK players that leads with “not on GamStop” or “no verification”.
The practical upshot
Offshore licences differ in quality, and Curaçao’s reform is a genuine attempt to raise standards at home. For a player in Britain, though, the differences between them matter less than what they all lack: GAMSTOP, UK stake limits, the 10x bonus cap, the credit card ban and a UK regulator that can act on a complaint. That is why our listings include only UKGC-licensed casinos. To see how those rules affect bonus value in pounds and pence, read our bonus wagering guide.
If you are self-excluded and considering an offshore casino, please speak to the National Gambling Helpline first on 0808 8020 133 (free, 24/7). Our responsible gambling page explains the support available.