BankMyCapital does not recommend an Anjouan gaming license, and this guide opens by saying so plainly before it explains anything else. That recommendation is not caution for its own sake. It follows directly from an official warning issued by the Comorian government against the body that issues these licenses.
On 10 December 2025, the Comorian Ministry of Finance published a communiqué from the Banque Centrale des Comores (BCC) naming the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA) directly as one of several bodies conducting illegal offshore banking activity, and stating that the matter has already been referred to prosecutors in all three Comorian jurisdictions.
The rest of this guide covers the mechanics of an Anjouan license honestly, for completeness, because operators researching it deserve accurate information rather than silence. But the mechanics do not change the recommendation above.
Direct Answer
BankMyCapital recommends against an Anjouan gaming license. On 10 December 2025, the Comorian Ministry of Finance published a Banque Centrale des Comores communique naming the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority as conducting illegal offshore activity and confirming prosecutor referrals in all three Comorian regions. An Anjouan license typically costs 18,000 to 30,000 EUR all-in with a 2 to 4 week timeline and 0% GGR tax, but the underlying legal authority is actively disputed by the national government.
Why BankMyCapital Does Not Recommend an Anjouan Gaming License
The communiqué is unambiguous. It states that banking and financial-institution licensing is exclusively within the Central Bank's purview under the Comorian constitution, and that authority does not extend to Anjouan, Mwali, or any other individual island acting alone.
The Banque Centrale des Comores confirmed it has already seized the public prosecutors of Moroni, Mutsamudu, and Mohéli, the three Comorian regions, against these illegal structures. It also asked international monetary and financial authorities in every jurisdiction to help identify and shut the entities down.
This is not a vague reputational concern or a matter of one jurisdiction simply being lower-tier than another. It is a national government, through its central bank, formally and publicly disputing the legal authority of the body that issues Anjouan gaming and financial licenses, and referring the matter to its own prosecutors.
Reality Check
A license nobody banks is a paper license, and a license the issuing country's own central bank calls illegal is worse than paper. Every other jurisdiction covered in this series has real gaps and real banking friction, but none of them carries a national government's own December 2025 communique naming the licensing authority itself as a target of prosecution. Weigh that difference before weighing cost or speed.
What to Consider:
- Read the source directly: the Comorian Ministry of Finance communique is public. Do not take a licensing agent's summary of it at face value.
- Constitutional dispute, not a technicality: the BCC's position is that only the Union government can license banking and financial activity, not any single island acting on its own.
- Prosecutor referral is active, not hypothetical: the communique states referrals to all three regional prosecutors have already happened, not that they might happen.
Final Takeaway: Treat the December 2025 communique as the starting point for any Anjouan decision, not a footnote to skip past on the way to the cost table below.
What Is the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority?
Anjouan is one of the three main islands making up the Union of the Comoros, an archipelago nation off the East African coast. The Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA) is the body that has historically issued gaming and financial licenses branded to the island, positioning itself as a semi-autonomous local regulator.
The dispute at the center of the December 2025 communique is precisely over that positioning. The Banque Centrale des Comores asserts that under the Comorian constitution, licensing authority over banking and financial activity sits with the Union government alone, and that no island-level body, AOFA included, has ever held that authority legitimately.
What to Consider:
- Island-level branding is the core problem: AOFA licenses are marketed as if Anjouan operates its own independent regulatory system, which the national government disputes.
- Do not confuse jurisdiction with legitimacy: a real island with a real government does not automatically mean every body operating under its name has real regulatory authority.
Final Takeaway: Understand that the question here is not whether Anjouan is a low-tier jurisdiction. It is whether the entity issuing the license has any recognized authority to do so at all.
What Would an Anjouan Gaming License Cost, and How Long Would It Take?
For completeness, and because operators deserve accurate numbers rather than silence, an Anjouan gaming license is typically marketed at an all-in cost of roughly 18,000 to 30,000 EUR, covering the license itself, formation, and basic compliance setup, with a 2 to 4 week turnaround and 0% tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR).
Those figures explain the appeal on paper: it is fast and inexpensive compared to almost every regulated alternative. They do not address, let alone resolve, the authority question raised directly above.
| Factor | Anjouan (AOFA) | A regulated alternative (e.g. Curacao LOK) |
|---|---|---|
| Reported all-in cost | ~EUR 18,000-30,000 | Higher, but paid to a licensing authority not disputed by its own national government |
| Reported timeline | 2-4 weeks | Several months, reflecting real underwriting |
| GGR tax | 0% | Varies by regime |
| Licensing authority's legal standing | Publicly disputed by the Comorian central bank | Recognized, direct statutory regulator |
What to Consider:
- Speed is not a proxy for legitimacy: a 2-4 week turnaround usually means minimal underwriting, not efficient underwriting.
- Zero tax has a cost elsewhere: jurisdictions with no GGR tax and no real oversight tend to have no real banking access either, and this one now carries an active government dispute on top.
Example
An operator comparing an Anjouan quote against a Curacao LOK application found the Anjouan route roughly one-fifth the cost and available within a month, against several months and a materially higher annual fee for Curacao. After reviewing the December 2025 communique directly, the operator chose the Curacao route specifically to avoid building a business on a license its issuing authority's own national government disputes.
Final Takeaway: Price the Anjouan route honestly against what the December 2025 communique means for your ability to bank, process payments, or ever sell the business, not just against the sticker price of the license.
Can an Anjouan-Licensed Operator Get Banked?
This is where the authority dispute becomes a practical, not just a legal, problem. Banks, EMIs, and payment processors run KYB checks that increasingly surface the December 2025 communique the moment an applicant's licensing documentation names AOFA. A regulator whose own national government disputes its authority is not a footnote a compliance officer skips.
Realistically, an Anjouan-branded license makes durable banking harder to obtain than almost any other option covered across this series, including jurisdictions with their own real, separate weaknesses.
Final Takeaway: Assume that any banking relationship built on an Anjouan-branded license carries elevated closure risk the moment a reviewing bank does its own diligence on the December 2025 communique.
What Should You Choose Instead?
Several other offshore and Indigenous gaming jurisdictions carry real, recognized statutory authority even where their banking access is still developing, and pairing any legitimate gaming license with a separate operating company and a European payment agent is standard structuring regardless of which jurisdiction you choose. That comparison deserves its own dedicated review rather than a rushed paragraph here.
| Jurisdiction | Licensing authority's legal standing | Reported cost tier |
|---|---|---|
| Anjouan (AOFA) | Publicly disputed by the Comorian government (Dec 2025) | Lowest |
| Curacao (CGA, LOK regime) | Recognized national regulator | Mid |
| Kahnawake (KGC) | Recognized, self-governing since 1996 | Mid-high |
| Malta (MGA) | Recognized EU regulator | Highest |
What to Consider:
- Weigh statutory standing first, cost second: a cheaper license attached to a disputed authority is not a bargain, it is a different and larger risk category entirely.
- A recognized regulator is a floor, not a guarantee: every jurisdiction above still has its own banking and compliance work to do, but none of them carries a national government's own fraud communique.
Final Takeaway: Rank candidate jurisdictions by the legitimacy of the licensing authority before ranking them by price or speed, since the cheapest option here is also the one a national government has publicly disputed.
The Decision, Restated
An Anjouan gaming license is fast, inexpensive, and tax-free on paper. It is also issued by a body the Comorian government itself has publicly named in a December 2025 communique as conducting illegal offshore banking activity, with the matter already referred to prosecutors in all three Comorian regions.
BankMyCapital's recommendation is to choose a different jurisdiction. If you already hold an Anjouan license, treat re-licensing under a recognized regime as a near-term priority rather than a someday project, because the exposure sits with your business, not with the authority that sold you the paperwork.
How BankMyCapital Helps
BankMyCapital advises operators away from disputed licensing structures and toward regimes with real statutory authority and a realistic banking path, sequencing the license and the account so neither one blocks the other. See our licensing services for how this assessment works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does BankMyCapital recommend an Anjouan gaming license?
No. Following the Comorian Ministry of Finance's 10 December 2025 communique naming the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority as conducting illegal offshore banking activity, BankMyCapital recommends choosing a jurisdiction with recognized statutory authority instead.
What did the December 2025 communique actually say?
The Banque Centrale des Comores stated that banking and financial licensing is the exclusive competence of the Union government, named AOFA as an illegal offshore actor, confirmed the matter had been referred to prosecutors in Moroni, Mutsamudu, and Mohéli, and asked international financial authorities to help shut the structures down.
How much does an Anjouan gaming license cost?
Reported figures put the all-in cost near EUR 18,000 to 30,000 with a 2 to 4 week timeline and 0% tax on gross gaming revenue. Those figures explain the commercial appeal but do not address the authority dispute described in the communique above.
Can an operator with an existing Anjouan license get banked?
It is difficult and getting harder. Banks and EMIs running standard KYB checks increasingly surface the December 2025 communique once AOFA appears in an applicant's licensing documentation, which elevates both onboarding rejection and later account-closure risk.
What should an operator with an Anjouan license do now?
Treat migration to a jurisdiction with recognized statutory authority as a near-term priority. The specific regime depends on target markets and budget, but the exposure from a disputed licensing authority sits with the operator, not with the body that issued the license.