Curaçao Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas is understood to have assumed control of the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) following the mass resignation of the regulator’s supervisory board last month.
Pisas stepped into the role after CGA commissioners Shelwyn Salesia, Robert Reijnaert and Ildefons Simon left their positions in September, according to a report in the Curaçao Chronicle.
Following the resignations of the commissioners who comprised the CGA’s supervisory board, Pisas held a meeting with the regulator’s management to discuss the state of the country’s gambling industry.
Absent from the meeting was Curaçao’s finance minister Javier Silvania, under whose jurisdiction the CGA officially falls.
Government advisor Caryl Monte was present at the meeting in Silvania’s stead.
The regulator’s upheaval comes at a time when Silvania is facing mounting pressure within the MFK political party.
In addition to allegations of corruption, Silvania was also involved in a spat with civil servant Alfonso Trona, a recording of which was widely circulated on social media.
The CGA officially launched in July 2025 as a successor to the Curaçao Gaming Control Board that had previously served as the Caribbean country’s gambling regulator.
This followed the introduction of new gambling legislation passed in December 2024 – the National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK).
New regulations included an upheaval of Curaçao’s gaming licencing system, requiring all operators to apply for new licences within a stricter framework.
Upon implementation, the regulator warned that any operators offering games without a CGA-issued licence were in violation of the LOK, before issuing a series of cease-and-desist orders to non-compliant companies.
Although the new regulator was placed under the control of Curaçao’s Ministry of Finance, Pisas’s involvement will see the CGA report directly to the office of the prime minister.
The CGA is not yet listed on the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce’s commercial register, despite publicly presenting as a foundation.
On its website, the CGA identifies itself as the official regulator of the gaming industry “on behalf of the Minister of Finance”.
The CGA states: “The government of Curaçao is in the process of modernising its gambling legislation to bring it in line with international standards and to adopt a responsible gaming policy that spans all gaming activities that are and will be licensed in the jurisdiction.
“Based on this new law, the CGA will be converted into a new independent licensing and supervisory authority for all games of chance.”
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The post Curaçao PM assumes control of gambling regulator after mass board resignations first appeared on EGR Intel.
Gilmar Pisas steps in to lead the Curaçao Gaming Authority after the entirety of its supervisory board left their roles in September
The post Curaçao PM assumes control of gambling regulator after mass board resignations first appeared on EGR Intel.