Comoros calls Anjouan licences unauthorised, seeks UK help

The government of the Union of the Comoros says the gambling licensing regime run in the name of its island Anjouan is unauthorised, and it has asked the UK government and British law enforcement for help. In statements to the Guardian, published on 19 October, the government said "British citizens have been identified" in connection with the regime and that "international cooperation efforts are under way, both in terms of financial intelligence and police collaboration". HM Treasury declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the Central Bank of the Comoros told the Guardian that the regime amounted to "illegal activities" by people "abusively using the name of the Comoros Islands to give themselves apparent legitimacy", called it a "serious concern" for the country's work against money laundering and terrorist financing, and said the government is preparing judicial action locally.

That matters well beyond the Indian Ocean. According to the Guardian, nearly 1,500 companies are listed on the public register of Anjouan Gaming, many of them crypto casinos, and many offshore casinos have left Curaçao over the past couple of years.

The central bank has said this before

The position is not new. In a communiqué signed by Governor Younoussa Imani on 8 December 2025, the Banque Centrale des Comores warned the public about the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority and Anjouan Corporate Services, among other entities. It said they are not recognised in the Comoros, have no legal authority to issue approvals or licences for financial or banking activities, and cannot act in the name of the Union of the Comoros or any of its islands. It added that no licence has been issued in the country for online gambling and sports betting, naming "Online Betting, Gaming, Gambling Licenses", and that any claim to operate under a Comorian approval not issued by the central bank is fraudulent (our translation from the French).

An earlier communiqué, signed by the same governor on 15 June 2022, had already listed the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority and Anjouan Corporate Services among "fictitious structures" claiming to license banks and financial institutions in the Comoros, and said the central bank had referred them to prosecutors in Moroni, Mutsamudu and Mohéli (our translation from the French).

Who issues Anjouan licences

Anjouan Gaming says on its website that its governing authority is the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority, which it says was set up under Comoros law to oversee licences for gaming, crypto, brokerage, banking and insurance. According to the Guardian, that authority says casinos "must submit" their applications through Anjouan Corporate Services, which advertises "expert guidance" for £19,000.

The Guardian reports that the UK company behind the Anjouan Corporate Services website is ACS Global Custodian Ltd, based in London. Harold Sorsky, speaking for the company, rejected the Guardian's account. "ACS Global Custodian Ltd does not sell, issue, or otherwise provide gaming licences and has not done so since we took over the company in 2023," he said, adding that any reference to ACS supporting gaming licence applications "predates the delegation of that function to another service provider specialising in the industry".

The other side

Anjouan Gaming maintains that its licences are legally valid and cites an independent legal opinion on the 2005 legislation it relies on, the Computer Gaming Licensing Act, casino.org reports. In a June statement reported by SBC News, it also said its licence "is not, and has never been presented as, a universal authorisation to operate in every country in the world", and that licensees remain responsible for following the law in the markets they choose.

Those answers address different questions. The second is about where a licensed casino may operate. The Comoros government is challenging something more basic: whether the authority behind the licence has any standing under Comoros law at all. A September 2025 study by researchers Steve Menary and Marko Begović had already questioned the paperwork, finding that the publicly available version of the 2005 law had no official signature or stamp and was hosted on the licensing organisation's own website, according to casino.org.

Why operators chose Anjouan

Cost and ease are the short answer. An industry source at the iGB Live conference in London told the Guardian: "Curaçao is getting crazy right now. You can't do this, you can't do that. Anjouan is very easy. So why spend £80,000 on a Curaçao licence when you can spend £20,000 on an Anjouan one?" Many offshore casinos have left Curaçao, the industry's traditional base, over the past couple of years, the Guardian notes, and Curaçao's regulator has had its own problems this autumn: it is retiring its breached licensing portal, and the seal players use to check a licence is affected.

Alun Bowden, an analyst at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, told the Guardian that a licence gives "a degree of reassurance to players and an apparent regulatory framework", which can make banks and payment providers more comfortable working with an operator.

What it means for players

The government in whose name the licences are issued now says, on the record and in writing, that it has not authorised them, and it is asking another country for help.

For UK players there is a specific concern. The Guardian found Anjouan-licensed sites promoted online as "not on GamStop", the UK's national self-exclusion scheme. Sites outside GamStop do not apply its exclusions, which is why regulators and experts say that kind of advertising targets people trying to stop gambling. In a test, the Guardian signed up at one Anjouan-licensed casino and placed several bets; after the bets stopped, it was contacted more than 100 times by phone or email with offers to play again.

A licence number that shows up on a register tells you a register exists. It does not tell you who stands behind it. Before you deposit anywhere, check who licenses the site, whether that regulator is recognised where you live, and how complaints are handled if something goes wrong. Our guides explain what to look for in a casino's licence and terms, and we have covered fake licence claims flagged by the Isle of Man regulator.

18+. Gambling can be addictive. If you have self-excluded or want to, see our responsible gambling page.