Is online gambling legal in Seychelles?

Legal overview

Gambling in the Seychelles is governed by the Seychelles Gambling Act, 2014 (Act 29 of 2014), which makes the Financial Services Authority (FSA) the licensing and regulatory body for the gambling industry. A licence is needed to run any gambling business, and section 13 empowers the FSA to grant interactive gambling licences. Detailed rules for online operators were issued as the Seychelles Gambling (Interactive Gambling) Rules, 2024 (S.I. 2 of 2024), published on 8 January 2024. Under Rule 4(1), only persons licensed by the FSA may conduct interactive gambling in or from within the Seychelles, and only companies incorporated in the Seychelles can be licensed. Licensees must keep player registration servers in the country.

The Rules bar licensees from doing business in 16 listed foreign jurisdictions, such as Russia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, but the Seychelles itself is not on that list. The Rules also refer to customers registered in the Seychelles, and neither the Act nor the Rules contain any ban on residents playing with an FSA licensee. The FSA register lists casino, slot machine and interactive gambling licensees. It could not be confirmed which FSA online licensees actively accept players resident in the Seychelles.

The Act also makes it an offence to take part in gambling that is not licensed under it, with penalties of up to five years' imprisonment and a fine. The FSA has issued public warnings that people using unlicensed interactive gambling services are not protected under the Gambling Act. Players must be at least 18, both under section 45 of the Act and under Rule 25 of the 2024 Rules.