What is Sublicence?

A sublicence is permission to operate granted by a master licence holder rather than by a regulator. Under Curaçao's pre-2024 system a casino bought its sublicence from one of four master holders and printed a number such as 8048/JAZ2020-060 — the master's number, plus a suffix identifying that particular casino. The practical weakness is who supervises whom. The regulator supervised the master; the master supervised its customers, who were also its revenue. Complaints escalated to a company with a commercial reason to keep its licensees trading, and there was no public register in which a player could confirm a sublicence existed at all. Sublicences are being phased out in Curaçao, but the numbers survive in footers, review sites and affiliate copy long after the underlying permission has lapsed or been replaced.