Antigua and Barbuda: gambling regulation and licensing

Antigua and Barbuda is where licensed online gambling began. The Directorate of Offshore Gaming, the Division of Gaming within the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, states plainly that the jurisdiction was one of the first to license interactive gaming and wagering companies, in 1994. Every licensing regime that followed, in Europe and elsewhere, was built after this one. The regulatory framework sits in the International Business Corporations Act together with the Interactive Gaming and Interactive Wagering Regulations, and the FSRC directorate has oversight of all aspects of the offshore gaming industry. The design decision that distinguishes it is the classification: internet gaming companies here are treated as financial institutions, and are therefore subject to the full anti-money laundering regime of the jurisdiction and to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force requirements. That is a materially different posture from treating an operator as an entertainment licensee with AML obligations bolted on. Antigua is also the jurisdiction that took the United States to the World Trade Organization over the American restrictions on cross-border gambling services, and won. That dispute, and the long failure to resolve it, is the single most important piece of context for anyone assessing the island's remaining share of the market. This profile records the regulator and the statutory framework; licence types, fees, tax treatment, advertising rules and compliance detail have not yet been verified against primary sources and are left as honest gaps.

Regulator

Directorate of Offshore Gaming, Financial Services Regulatory Commission

Regulator type

Dedicated regulator

Headline tax

Not yet verified

Licence required

Not yet verified

Minimum age

Not yet verified

Tax base

Not yet verified

Advertising permitted

Yes

Affiliate rules

Affiliates are not separately licensed here. Affiliate compliance follows the rules of the market being targeted rather than those of the licensing jurisdiction.

Penalties for breach

The Financial Services Regulatory Commission supervises licensees and can act against the licence. Advertising breaches in a target market are enforced by that market regulator.

1. Directorate of Offshore Gaming

   Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Antigua and Barbuda

   Tier 1Accessed 27 Aug 2026