Introduction
Anjouan is one of the islands of the Union of the Comoros, and the licensing website currently operating at anjouanlicensing.com presents itself as "Anjouan Licensing Services" and as a public-facing source for gambling and other international licences. As of 2026-05-10, that site is active and publicly markets interactive gaming and related licences.
Important caveat: This jurisdiction should be treated with a materially higher verification threshold than EU-regulated markets. The public-source evidence base is limited and fragmented, and official Comorian public authorities have issued warnings in adjacent offshore licensing areas about fictitious Anjouan-linked offshore authorities.
This guide is not a functional endorsement of the jurisdiction. It is a factual map of what can and cannot presently be verified from public sources.
Central Bank of the Comoros warning: In September 2022, the Central Bank of the Comoros published an official notice stating that purported offshore authorities in Anjouan, including the "Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority", were fictitious and had no legal basis to issue banking licences or accreditations. That notice was not a gambling-sector circular, so it should not be overstated beyond what it says. However, it is highly relevant when assessing the reliability of offshore-authority claims associated with Anjouan branding. This jurisdiction should not be presented as equivalent to Malta, Denmark, Estonia, Gibraltar, or other fully documented European regulatory systems.
Legal Framework
The public-facing ALS website refers to the "Anjouan Interactive Gaming Bill 2005" and presents Anjouan as a jurisdiction that issues interactive gaming permissions. However, in the official-public-source material reviewed for this article, a complete and authoritative online legislative library with consolidated gambling texts, amendments, implementing rules, public directives, and a government-hosted register was not identified. That evidentiary gap is itself a material fact for counterparties, payment providers, suppliers, and players assessing the regime.
Accordingly, the most cautious formulation is this: as of 2026-05-10, a licensing regime is publicly marketed under the ALS brand, and the site asserts a legal basis in Anjouan's gaming legislation, but exact current legislative text, amendment history, and official publication status should be verified directly with the competent public authority before relying on any claimed licence.
Regulatory Authority
The authority presented to applicants is Anjouan Licensing Services (ALS). The site describes itself as operating under the Government of Anjouan and offers application intake for gaming and related international licences. In evidentiary terms, that website is the main public source currently available in English.
The central weakness is that the broader public-authority architecture is not transparently documented in the same way as in mature onshore systems. In particular, the research for this article did not identify a clearly maintained government portal setting out the regulator's statutory remit, governance, organigram, annual reports, public consultations, enforcement policy, or independently searchable official register equivalent to the MGA, Spillemyndigheden, or EMTA models.
Types of Licences
The ALS website markets gambling licensing as part of its offering, but the exact current licence taxonomy is not fully documented in the official-public-source material reviewed. The table below separates what is clearly marketed from what remains to be verified.
| Licence type or category | Activity authorised | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive gaming licence | Remote gambling | Exact statutory category names and scope should be verified directly with the competent authority |
| Betting or wagering related approvals | Marketed on the ALS site as part of gaming licensing | Exact coverage, product verticals, and technical standards were not independently confirmed |
| Other international licences | Non-gambling categories also marketed by ALS | These should not be conflated with gambling regulation |
Application Process
The ALS site functions as an application intake and information portal. Based on the public website, the process appears to begin with direct contact or submission through the ALS platform, followed by document review and issuance steps communicated by the licensing body. However, the research for this article did not identify an independently hosted government process note that sets out the full documentary checklist, fit-and-proper standards, control-system standards, AML onboarding requirements, or statutory service timeline.
Because of that limitation, any applicant should insist on receiving, in writing:
- The current legal basis for the application
- The name of the issuing public authority
- The register reference format
- Renewal terms and revocation grounds
- AML obligations and dispute-resolution route
- Direct instructions for verifying the licence after issue
If those points are not available from a primary public source, the evidentiary quality of the licence should be treated as limited.
Fees
A fully reliable public fee schedule from an independently verifiable official-government source was not identified during this research. For that reason, no fee amounts are reproduced here.
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | Verify at official source | No authoritative public fee schedule was confirmed from a government-hosted source |
| Annual licence fee | Verify at official source | Request written confirmation of the legal instrument fixing the fee |
| Renewal fee | Verify at official source | Confirm renewal cycle, grace periods, and late-payment consequences |
| Additional domain or brand fees | Verify at official source | Especially important for multi-brand or white-label models |
As of 2026-05-10, exact figures should be verified directly at the official ALS website and, more importantly, with the competent Anjouan public authority in writing before payment is made.
Ongoing Compliance Obligations
The public-source picture does not provide a clearly published, regulator-issued compliance handbook equivalent to the LCCP in Great Britain, MGA directives in Malta, or the Danish executive-order toolkit. That means it is difficult to verify, from authoritative public sources alone, the precise post-licensing duties on AML, player fund segregation, responsible gambling tooling, technical certification, incident reporting, suspicious transaction reporting, and ongoing audits.
In practical terms, that is a material counterparty risk. Even where a licence certificate exists, the absence of a transparent and publicly documented compliance architecture can make it harder for banks, PSPs, B2B suppliers, and business partners to assess what exactly the operator is required to do on an ongoing basis.
Enforcement
No consolidated official enforcement page, sanctions ledger, public settlements database, or formal disciplinary archive equivalent to those used by major European regulators was identified in the sources reviewed for this article. The absence of a well-documented public enforcement record makes it difficult to assess supervisory intensity, complaint outcomes, historic suspensions, or revocations.
That lack of public documentation should be read neutrally but realistically. It does not establish that no enforcement exists. It does mean that public verification of enforcement practice is weak, which is an important difference between this offshore regime and highly regulated markets where enforcement powers and outcomes are routinely published.
Upcoming Reforms
No clearly documented public consultation, bill, or regulator-issued reform programme specific to gambling in Anjouan was identified in the official-public sources reviewed for this article. Any purported 2026 changes should be verified directly with the competent authority and against primary legal publications.
Verifying a Licence
Verification in Anjouan requires a stricter process than in better-documented jurisdictions:
- Locate the public-facing licensing source currently presenting itself as ALS and confirm that the website is active.
- Obtain the operator's full legal name, licence number, issue date, and any cited legal basis.
- Ask for documentary proof showing which public authority issued the licence and where that issuing authority is constituted in law.
- Ask for a direct register link or official written confirmation from the authority, not only a certificate supplied by the operator.
- Compare the authority name and documents against official public warnings from the Union of the Comoros and related public bodies, especially where offshore-authority naming is involved.
If the operator cannot provide a direct, official, independently verifiable register reference or written confirmation from a competent public authority, the safest factual conclusion is not that the operator is necessarily unlicensed, but that the public verification chain is incomplete.
Summary
Anjouan remains a heavily caveated offshore licensing topic. The active ALS website publicly markets gambling licensing, but the public-source record reviewed for this article does not offer the same clarity found in more established regulatory jurisdictions. In parallel, the Central Bank of the Comoros has issued an official warning in the offshore-authority space that certain Anjouan-linked authorities were fictitious in the banking context.
For editorial purposes, the properly sourced position is therefore limited and precise: there is a currently active licensing website presenting itself as Anjouan Licensing Services; the public proof chain for the wider regime is comparatively weak; exact fees, documentary requirements, and legal status should be verified directly with the competent authority; and the jurisdiction should not be described as equivalent to EU-regulated licensing systems.
Sources
- Central Bank of the Comoros notice on fictitious offshore authorities: https://banque-comores.km/uploads/COMMUNIQUE-DE-LA-BCC-SUR-LEXERCICE-ILLEGAL-DACTIVITES-BANCAIRES-OFFSHORES%283%29.pdf
- Anjouan Licensing Services public website: https://anjouanlicensing.com
This article was compiled from official and primary public sources only. All factual claims are sourced as indicated. Last reviewed: 2026-05-10.
Disclaimer: This directory is an independent informational resource. It does not constitute legal advice, endorsement, or recommendation of any operator or jurisdiction. Always verify licence status directly with the relevant regulatory authority.