Curaçao Court Upholds Ban on Debt Assignment in Casino Terms

The Joint Court of Justice of Curaçao issued an interim ruling in claims filed by fund SBGOK and two individual players against license holder Gaming Services Provider, which sublicenses its Curaçao license to several online casinos. The court found that a prohibition on assigning claims to third parties, as stated in operators' terms and conditions, is lawful, reasoning that paying a third party prevents the operator from verifying the actual recipient of the funds. The court also ruled that this restriction cannot be circumvented by having a third party pursue the debt on the player's behalf.

Five players had assigned their claims against operators to the fund, while two others are pursuing their cases independently, with claim amounts ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. The court additionally found the operators' terms and conditions valid, stating that a dedicated download function for the terms is not legally required. This contrasts with a separate case involving Usoftgaming N.V., where the same court annulled a user agreement because the operator failed to prove players had the ability to save a copy of the terms.

The ruling reinforces operators' ability to restrict claim assignment as a contractual matter under Curaçao law, potentially limiting the use of third-party funds or collection agencies as a mechanism for players to recover disputed funds from Curaçao-licensed operators going forward.