MUTSAMUDU – An investigation into the public gambling licence register of Anjouan, an island in the Comoros, has uncovered significant discrepancies in how licensing information is presented to the public. According to an audit conducted in October 2026, 124 gambling licences remained marked as valid even though their published expiry dates had already passed.
The findings raise questions about the transparency and reliability of gambling licensing registers, particularly in jurisdictions that issue licences to online casino operators serving international markets.
The investigation was conducted by NewCasino.ai, a commercial casino review platform that regularly monitors the Anjouan Gaming Authority's public register. Its findings were published alongside downloadable datasets and a description of the methodology used.
Curaçao licensed online gambling
According to the audit, researchers examined 1,295 gambling licence records on October 17, 2026. Every entry carried the same status designation, "valid," despite 124 records having expiry dates ranging from one to 143 days earlier.
Those 124 records collectively listed 332 internet domains.
The oldest affected licence had an expiry date of May 27, 2026, nearly five months before the October examination.
Register Uses Only One Status Despite Multiple Official Categories
One of the central findings concerns the difference between the licensing authority's published status definitions and the information displayed in its register.
The Anjouan Gaming Authority provides definitions for several licence categories, including active, suspended, revoked, and expired.
However, according to the researchers, none of those four designations appeared in the underlying dataset examined on October 17.
Instead, all 1,295 licences were classified as valid.
The researchers also reported that the authority's public lists for suspended and revoked licences contained no entries when examined.
This creates uncertainty for anyone attempting to determine whether a gambling operator currently holds authorization to provide online gaming services.
A licence may appear valid in the public register even when its stated expiry date has passed.
However, the researchers emphasized that a past expiry date does not automatically establish that an operator is conducting gambling activities illegally.
Possible explanations include renewals that have not yet been reflected in the register, outdated records, or other administrative arrangements that are not publicly explained.
The audit did not determine which explanation applies to the individual licences.
Hundreds of Licence Records Disappear Between September and October
The investigation also identified substantial changes in the number of licences appearing in the register.
During an earlier examination on September 18, 2026, researchers recorded 1,527 licence entries.
By October 17, that number had fallen to 1,295, a net reduction of 232 entries.
The number of records with past expiry dates also declined, from 340 in September to 124 in October.
According to the audit, some previously expired licences subsequently displayed updated expiry dates extending into 2027, while others were no longer visible in the register.
The researchers could not determine the reasons for all the changes.
The number of internet domains listed across the register also declined, from 4,097 to 3,654 during the same period.
These changes demonstrate how rapidly the publicly available licensing information can change, making dated records important for independent scrutiny.
Questions About Consumer Protection
Online gambling licences are intended to provide a framework for regulatory oversight and accountability.
For players, business partners, and payment service providers, public registers can serve as an important means of checking whether an operator claims authorization from a recognized licensing authority.
However, a register that displays conflicting information can complicate those checks.
The Anjouan Gaming Authority itself warns that its register is updated periodically and may not reflect the most recent changes in licensing status. It advises users to contact the authority directly when time-sensitive verification is necessary.
The audit therefore raises a broader issue: whether public licensing databases provide sufficiently clear and current information for consumers and other interested parties to make informed decisions.
The researchers recommend examining both the licence status and the actual expiry date rather than relying exclusively on a displayed status badge.
Researcher's Commercial Interests Disclosed
NewCasino.ai has acknowledged that it operates as a casino review website and maintains commercial affiliate relationships with gambling businesses.
Some of the casino brands reviewed by the website hold Anjouan licences, which the company says is why it monitors the register regularly.
The researchers state that none of their affiliated casino domains appeared among the past-expiry records identified in the October audit.
The dataset has been made publicly available to allow others to examine the findings.
The research was also deposited in the academic data repository Mendeley Data and archived through Zenodo.
The availability of the data provides an opportunity for further independent examination, although publication in a research repository does not constitute regulatory confirmation of the findings.
Wider Implications for International Gambling Regulation
The findings are relevant beyond Anjouan because online gambling operators frequently serve customers across national borders.
For small jurisdictions that license international gambling businesses, the credibility of the regulatory system depends partly on the accuracy and accessibility of licensing information.
Curaçao, which has been reforming its gambling industry under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance, faces similar broader questions about transparency, licence verification, and regulatory accountability.
The Anjouan audit does not establish comparable discrepancies in Curaçao's register. It does, however, illustrate the importance of maintaining public records that clearly distinguish active, expired, suspended, and revoked licences.
The research leaves an important question unanswered: whether the discrepancies identified in Anjouan reflect administrative delays, technical limitations, or deeper problems in the maintenance of the licensing database.
Until those issues are clarified, the findings remain a documented concern about the public register rather than proof of illegal activity by individual gambling operators.