Panama Gaming License

A Panama gaming license is a Contrato de Administración y Operación with the Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), plus one Licencia de Juego for each web domain. It covers online sports betting and internet casino games for players outside Panama, and requires offices and a call centre in Panama.

Panama flag
Panamalicense
Overview
Compliance burden
8/10
Risk level (PSP/Banks)
Elevated
Cost Range
Cost Range
from B/.50,000/domain + B/.600,000 bonds
Timeline
Timeline
not fixed; plan in months
Suitability Score
Suitability Score
Established operators serving Latin America
Taxation
Taxation
10% of gross income, monthly

Key facts

RegulatorJunta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF)
Legal basisDecreto Ley No. 2 of 10 February 1998; Resolución No. 65 of 25 October 2002; Resolución No. 11 of 6 March 2020 (current online reglamento)
License structureOne Contrato de Administración y Operación, plus one Licencia de Juego per web domain, maximum five per contract (art. 16)
Government feeB/.50,000 Derecho de Llave per Licencia de Juego (art. 12)
BondsB/.500,000 performance bond (art. 13) and B/.100,000 annual prize-payment bond (art. 14)
Revenue share to the JCJ10% of gross income (ingresos brutos), paid monthly within the first 10 calendar days (art. 15)
Contract termCapped at seven years by art. 22 of Resolución No. 65 of 2002, conditional on fees being current; status under the 2020 reglamento unconfirmed
Minimum capitalNo fixed floor. Working capital is whatever the approved business plan sets out (art. 10, Resolución No. 65 of 2002)
Local presenceOffices and a call centre in Panama are mandatory (art. 29.2)
ServersMay sit outside Panama, with exact location declared and a Certificado de Cumplimiento filed (art. 29.3)
Verticals coveredSports events, including auto and greyhound racing, and internet casino games: poker, blackjack, roulette, slots (art. 16)
ExcludedHorse racing, lottery and similar games (art. 29.4)
Domain requirementThe domain must carry Panama's ccTLD, currently ".pa" (art. 31.c)
Since May 2026Law 527 of 23 May 2026 adds biometric player verification, site-blocking powers and fines of B/.25,000 to B/.100,000

Panama licenses online gaming through the Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), the national regulator sitting under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). Panama regulates the sector as "los Juegos de Suerte y Azar y las Actividades que Originan Apuestas", games of chance and activities that give rise to betting. Online operators have been licensed here since 2002.

The permit is normally held by a Panamanian Sociedad Anónima, and the current rules sit in Resolución No. 11 of 6 March 2020, which replaced the online provisions of Resolución No. 65 of 2002.

Two things about Panama are widely misreported and both matter to your budget. The government fee is set per web domain, not per company, and the JCJ takes 10% of gross income on top of it. The figures circulating on comparison sites, "$40,000 upfront and $20,000 a year", come from the 2002 text that the 2020 reglamento replaced. Everything below is cited to the article that sets it.

Panama gaming license vs gambling license: is there a difference?

No. A Panama gaming license, a Panama gambling license, a Panama casino license and a Panama iGaming license all name the same instrument. The JCJ works from one umbrella term, "los Juegos de Suerte y Azar y las Actividades que Originan Apuestas", which covers games of chance and betting activities together.

The wording splits by market habit, not by law. British operators say gambling, American operators say gaming, affiliates say iGaming. Panama issues one set of instruments for all of it: a Contrato de Administración y Operación, then a Licencia de Juego per domain. For how license types compare across jurisdictions, start at our gambling license hub.

Who regulates gaming in Panama?

The Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ) regulates gaming in Panama. The JCJ operates under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and handles licensing, supervision and enforcement. Decreto Ley No. 2 of 10 February 1998 restructured the JCJ. Resolución No. 65 of 2002 opened online licensing, and Resolución No. 11 of 6 March 2020 is the current reglamento.

What the JCJ controls in practice:

  • Approves the Contrato de Administración y Operación through its Pleno, on the Director's recommendation (arts. 9 and 11)

  • Issues each Licencia de Juego by resolución motivada, and can cancel a license if the site does not launch within three months (art. 16)

  • Vets individuals through Certificados de Idoneidad for directors, officers, shareholders and employees of trust (art. 18)

  • Approves the operator's Manual de Procedimientos de Control Interno and any later changes to it (arts. 32 and 35)

  • Maintains the Lista de Exclusión that operators must check before opening a player account (art. 36.b)

  • Orders blocking of sites, applications, domains and IP addresses of unlicensed operators, a power widened by Law 527 of 2026

One point that catches operators from lighter-touch jurisdictions: the Contraloría General de la República must countersign the contract before the government fee falls due (art. 12). That is a second state body in your critical path, not a formality inside the JCJ.

What activities does the Panama license cover?

Each Licencia de Juego covers betting on sports events, including auto and greyhound racing, and internet casino games: poker, blackjack, roulette and slots (art. 16). Horse racing, lottery games and games of a similar nature are excluded outright (art. 29.4). One license covers one web domain, with a maximum of five per contract.

Covered:

  • Sports betting on sporting events

  • Auto racing and greyhound racing

  • Poker

  • Blackjack and table games

  • Roulette

  • Slot machines and RNG games

Not covered:

  • Horse racing, excluded by art. 29.4

  • Lottery games and games of similar nature, excluded by art. 29.4

  • Bingo as an online vertical. Bingos appear in the reglamento only as physical venues where payment vouchers may be redeemed under a Contrato de Servicios (art. 30)

Comparison pages that list bingo, lottery and skill games under a single Panama license are describing something the reglamento does not authorise. If any of those verticals is core to your product, raise it before you file, because the answer changes your jurisdiction choice.

Who is the Panama gaming license suitable for?

A Panama gaming license fits established operators serving Latin America who can fund a B/.500,000 performance bond and staff a local office. Panama is not an entry-level jurisdiction. Startups comparing Panama with Anjouan on headline fees are comparing instruments with very different capital demands.

Good fit:

  • Operators targeting Latin America who want a Spanish-speaking regulator in a nearby time zone

  • Established groups that can post B/.500,000 in performance bonding plus a B/.100,000 annual prize bond

  • Businesses running sportsbook and casino together, which one Licencia de Juego covers

  • Operators who can staff offices and a call centre in Panama and accept a ".pa" domain

Poor fit:

  • Startups on a first license, where the bonding alone exceeds the entire budget for an Anjouan route

  • Operators needing EU or UK market access, where only a European license answers

  • Anyone planning to accept US players

  • Products built on bingo, lottery or horse racing, which the reglamento excludes

  • Operators who cannot absorb 10% of gross income as a monthly payment to the regulator

How it works

How do you get a Panama gaming license?

Navigating the gaming license process can be complex. Here's a streamlined guide to each step.

Getting a Panama gaming license runs through five stages: scoping and documents, forming the company, filing with the JCJ, investigation of every shareholder and director, then approval by the Pleno followed by the Contraloría countersignature and payment of the Derecho de Llave. Company formation and licensing run in parallel.

Resolución No. 11 of 2020 sets no statutory processing deadline, so treat any fixed promise of a license date with suspicion. Plan in months, not weeks: the fit-and-proper investigation reaches ten years of history for every shareholder and director, and the Contraloría refrendo sits outside the JCJ's control. We give you a project timeline against your own structure rather than a marketing figure. Ask for a Panama project timeline

STEP 1

Consultation and document preparation

MGL scopes the project against your target markets, verticals and shareholder structure, then lists exactly which documents the JCJ will require. Personal papers come from you. Apostilles, translations, the corporate file and the policy set are ours.

Scoping decides whether Panama is the right answer at all. If your verticals include bingo or lottery, or your budget cannot carry the bonding, we say so before you spend money on a Panamanian company.

STEP 2

Company formation (Sociedad Anónima)

The applicant must be a legal person constituted and organised in Panama, or registered as a foreign company with the Public Registry of Panama (art. 7.4). Most applicants use a Panamanian Sociedad Anónima. Incorporation is a separate workstream from licensing, which is why it starts immediately rather than waiting on the JCJ.

The articles of incorporation are not standard boilerplate. Art. 7(g) requires the objects clause to state that the company operates internet games of chance in accordance with JCJ rules, and requires share-transfer language subjecting any issue or transfer of shares to JCJ approval. Get this wrong and the company has to be amended before the application can proceed.

Note also that no minimum number of directors comes from the gaming rules. Director counts follow Panama's general corporate law, not the reglamento, so any source presenting "three directors" as a JCJ gaming requirement is quoting the wrong statute.

STEP 3

Application submission and investigation

A Panamanian lawyer files the application with the JCJ. Art. 7 sets the package: fit-and-proper histories, source of financing, authenticated or apostilled corporate documents, shareholder and loan certifications, audited profit and loss accounts covering the three previous fiscal years, income tax returns for the same period, and an internal control procedures manual.

Two provisions worth knowing before you file. The Director may summon any person named in the application for questioning (art. 8). And if you withdraw after the Director has issued the corresponding resolution, you cannot file again for one year (art. 10).

Art. 6 also requires gaming-industry experience of at least five years, held by the majority shareholder or the company president. First-time entrants with no operating history need to solve that at the structuring stage.

STEP 4

Due diligence and fit-and-proper checks

The JCJ investigates the personal, criminal, commercial and financial background of every director, officer, employee of trust and shareholder, covering the ten years before the application date (art. 7.e). The investigation traces ownership through to the ultimate beneficial owner (art. 5). AML and KYC obligations come from Ley No. 23 of 27 April 2015 (art. 29.6).

Every individual in a controlling or sensitive role needs a Certificado de Idoneidad from the Director, and it must be obtained specifically for this operation even if the person already holds one for another gaming business (art. 18). Staff need Credenciales de Trabajo (art. 24).

Due diligence is the stage that fails applications. History the regulator finds is worse than history you disclose, which is why we run the same checks on your shareholders before the JCJ does.

STEP 5

Approval and license issuance

The Pleno of the JCJ approves or rejects by resolución motivada (art. 11). Once the Contraloría General de la República countersigns the contract, the operator pays B/.50,000 as Derecho de Llave per Licencia de Juego to the National Treasury (art. 12). The performance bond of B/.500,000 is lodged in favour of the JCJ (art. 13).

Before operations start, the operator must also hold a B/.100,000 bond from an insurer covering payment of player prizes, renewed annually (art. 14). The operator notifies the Director of the intended start date so an inspection can be ordered, and needs prior written authorisation to go live (art. 16). Each licensed site must begin operating within three months or the Director may cancel the Licencia de Juego.

What are the requirements for a Panama gaming license?

A Panama gaming license requires a Panamanian or Panama-registered company, offices and a call centre in Panama, ten-year fit-and-proper clearance for all shareholders and directors, five years of gaming experience at the top, certified gaming software from a registered provider, and a ".pa" domain.

Corporate and personnel:

  • A company constituted in Panama or registered as a foreign company with the Public Registry (art. 7.4)

  • Objects clause and share-transfer wording in the specific form art. 7(g) requires

  • Offices and a call centre in the Republic of Panama, holding the documentation the reglamento requires (art. 29.2)

  • A legal representative in Panama (art. 7.2)

  • Five years of gaming-industry experience in the majority shareholder or the president (art. 6)

  • Certificados de Idoneidad for directors, officers, shareholders and employees of trust (art. 18); Credenciales de Trabajo for staff (art. 24)

  • AML and KYC compliance under Ley No. 23 of 2015 (art. 29.6)

Documents you provide:

  • Passports or identity documents for all individuals

  • Ten-year personal, criminal, commercial and financial histories

  • Evidence of the source of financing for the proposed operation

  • Audited profit and loss accounts for the three previous fiscal years

  • Income tax returns for the three previous fiscal years

  • Certifications from the company secretary on shareholders, loans, encumbrances and the ten highest-paid individuals

Documents we build:

  • Internal control procedures manual, which the Director must approve (art. 32)

  • AML and KYC policy set

  • Responsible gaming programme aligned to the JCJ-approved logo and materials

  • The corporate file and apostilled document set

Technical and operational:

  • The gaming system must be registered and bought from a provider registered with the JCJ (art. 29.5)

  • Random number generation must be certified, and theoretical return to player must not fall below 80% (art. 69)

  • Certificates of compliance come from an Entidad Autorizada, meaning a national or foreign body registered with the JCJ for that purpose. The reglamento names no laboratory, so treat GLI, BMM Testlabs and eCOGRA as market practice rather than a JCJ list

  • Servers may be located outside Panama, provided the exact location is declared and a Certificado de Cumplimiento is filed in either case (art. 29.3)

  • The website must show the operator's Panama head-office address and telephone, the JCJ responsible gaming logo, a complaints icon linked to a JCJ email address, and the domain must carry the ".pa" ccTLD (art. 31)

  • One player account per person, checked against the JCJ Lista de Exclusión, opened with between B/.20 and B/.10,000, valid for two years (art. 36)

  • An external auditor's report on the internal control manual, filed within 90 calendar days of fiscal year end (art. 34)

The local presence rule and the server rule are often reported as if they conflict. They do not. The company needs a physical office and call centre in Panama; the technical platform can stay where it is, as long as its location is declared and certified.

How much does a Panama gaming license cost?

Resolución No. 11 of 2020 sets a Derecho de Llave of B/.50,000 for each Licencia de Juego, a performance bond of B/.500,000, and an annual prize-payment bond of B/.100,000. The JCJ then takes 10% of gross income monthly. Panama is a bonded jurisdiction, and the bonding dominates the entry cost.

Panama government fees and bonds

ItemAmountBasisWhen
Derecho de LlaveB/.50,000 per Licencia de JuegoArt. 12After the Contraloría countersigns the contract; on approval of each further license
Performance bond (fianza de cumplimiento)B/.500,000Art. 13On grant of the Contrato de Administración y Operación
Prize-payment bond (fianza de pago de premios)B/.100,000Art. 14Before operations start, maintained and presented every year
Revenue participation10% of gross income (ingresos brutos)Art. 15Monthly, within the first 10 calendar days
Late payment surcharge1% per month on the amount dueArt. 15On any late revenue payment
Work credential processingB/.50 per personArt. 25.ePer staff credential application

The fee chapter of Resolución No. 11 of 2020 contains these charges and no flat annual license fee. The "$20,000 a year" figure quoted across comparison sites comes from art. 21 of the 2002 text, which set a US$20,000 annuality per Panama gaming license before the 2020 reglamento restructured the fee provisions. Confirm with the JCJ whether any annuality survives alongside the 10% revenue participation.

Two cautions on these figures. The B/.50,000 is charged per Licencia de Juego, so a five-domain operation carries five charges, not one. And "ingresos brutos" means gross income; the reglamento does not define whether that is total stakes or stakes net of winnings, and the difference is very large. Confirm the base with Panamanian counsel before you model revenue, because a 10% charge on turnover and a 10% charge on gross gaming revenue are different businesses.

Beyond the state figures, budget for the company and its registered agent, the Panama office and call centre, software certification, the compliance function, the external audit, and legal filing work. We quote the full first-year outlay against your structure, domain count and verticals. Get a Panama cost breakdown for your structure

Renewal cost

The recurring obligations that Resolución No. 11 of 2020 fixes are the B/.100,000 prize-payment bond, which must be maintained and presented to the JCJ every year (art. 14), and the monthly payment of 10% of gross income (art. 15). Missing the monthly payment adds a 1% monthly surcharge.

Arrears of three months are grounds for an Orden de Emergencia or rescission of the contract (art. 15). Alongside the bond, the annual cycle includes the external auditor's report on the internal control manual, due within 90 calendar days of fiscal year end (art. 34). Renewal is a live compliance review, not a payment.

What taxes apply to a Panama gaming license?

A JCJ licensee pays 10% of gross income to the Junta de Control de Juegos every month under art. 15 of Resolución No. 11 of 2020. Resolución No. 65 of 2002 treats operating income as foreign-source and exempts it from income tax and dividend tax, but it carves out payments owed to the JCJ. The 10% is not exempt.

Art. 21 of Resolución No. 65 of 2002 sets the mechanism out plainly: bets may not be taken from within Panama, income from operating the systems counts as foreign-source income, and, other than payments corresponding to the Junta de Control de Juegos, that income is not subject to income tax, dividend tax or revenue participation. The exemption is conditional on the operation facing outward, and it never covered the regulator's own charge.

Two figures in wide circulation are wrong. The "4% on local revenue" attributed to Panama is not a gaming tax at all: Panama's corporate regime carries a 25% rate plus an alternative minimum calculation of 4.67% of gross taxable income for larger companies, which is where that number originates. And "no taxes on foreign revenue" describes the income tax position only, while ignoring the 10% the regulator takes first.

One question we flag rather than paper over. The 2002 reglamento barred Panama residents from using these systems, while Resolución No. 11 of 2020 requires a ".pa" domain and a call centre in Panama. Whether the 2020 rules opened any domestic play, and what that does to the foreign-source analysis, needs an opinion from Panamanian tax counsel on your own structure.

Panama also appears on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. That does not change your Panamanian liabilities and does change how European banks and acquirers price you. Ask us to model the Panama tax position

What is Bill 403 (now Law 527) and how does it affect Panama operators?

Bill 403 is no longer a bill. It was promulgated as Law 527 of 23 May 2026 and published in the Gaceta Oficial on 28 May 2026, as a problem-gambling measure regulating betting on digital platforms, mobile applications, websites and electronic systems. The Executive has six months from promulgation to issue implementing regulations, which points to around November 2026.

What reporting on the enacted law establishes:

  • Biometric identity verification of players, extending to online platforms, physical casinos and digital payments

  • Mandatory spend and time limits for players, with automatic alerts on risk patterns

  • Power for the JCJ to order blocking of websites, applications, domains and IP addresses of unlicensed operators, executed through telecom providers

  • Fines of B/.25,000 to B/.100,000, doubling on repeat breach, plus temporary suspension or definitive cancellation of the license

  • Fines up to B/.1,000,000 for operating without a license

  • A mental health prevention fund for the Instituto de Salud Mental (INSAM), financed from operator contributions and administered by the MEF. Reported rates conflict, so we are not publishing one until the Gaceta text is read

  • A minimum age of 18, and prevention content in schools through the health and education ministries

Three points where published summaries are unreliable.

The INSAM contribution is widely repeated as 10% of profits, which was the March bill's wording. Reporting on the enacted law describes a far smaller contribution routed through the MEF instead. Both cannot be right, so we treat the rate as unconfirmed.

Penalties in the enacted law are fixed balboa bands, not "up to 10% of revenue".

The advertising ban, payment-method limits and real-time monitoring the March bill carried are not confirmed in reporting on the final text, so we do not present them as current Panamanian law.

For an operator the practical read is this: budget for biometric onboarding and player-limit tooling before the implementing regulations land, and treat the blocking power as the real enforcement change. Law 527 raises the compliance floor rather than the tax bill. We are watching for the reglamento and the Gaceta text. Ask how Law 527 affects your Panama plan

Can Panama-licensed operators access global markets?

A Panama gaming license grants no access to regulated markets. The license authorises operation from Panama; whether a given country's players may lawfully be accepted is decided by that country's law. The reglamento is explicit in the other direction too: a license from another jurisdiction confers no right to operate in Panama (art. 2).

Enforcement against Panama-based operators is not theoretical. On 28 April 2025 the Michigan Gaming Control Board issued cease-and-desist orders to SportsBetting.ag and BetOnline.ag, describing them as Panama-based, giving 14 days to stop serving Michigan residents and citing the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, the Gaming Control and Revenue Act and the Michigan Penal Code.

Two consequences to plan for:

  • Geo-blocking has to work, not merely exist. Every market you cannot lawfully serve needs a block that holds up to inspection, and Law 527 gives the JCJ its own blocking power over unlicensed sites.

  • Banking carries extra scrutiny. Panama's AML history and its EU non-cooperative listing mean acquirers price Panamanian gaming companies above a Malta-licensed equivalent, and some decline the category.

"Global reach" in marketing copy means the license has no territorial limit written into it. It does not mean lawful market access. Treat any adviser who blurs those two as a warning sign.

Own Panama license vs white-label

Holding your own Panama license means a direct Contrato de Administración y Operación with the JCJ: the permit, the player data and the enterprise value sit with you. Panama also recognises a middle route, the Operador Designado, where a license holder authorises another company to use and exploit a Licencia de Juego under a contract the Director approves (art. 17).

Own Panama license, Operador Designado and white-label

FactorOwn Panama licenseOperador Designado under art. 17White-label elsewhere
Relationship with the JCJDirect contract holderAuthorised user of another holder's license, approved by the DirectorNone
Regulatory approval neededFull application and investigationDirector's authorisation, and arts. 5 and 6 still apply to youProvider's license covers you
Player dataYoursGoverned by the contractProvider's, with contractual access
Enterprise value on exitLicense and data are sellable assetsLimited, the license is not yoursLimited
Entry costB/.50,000 per license plus B/.600,000 in bondingNegotiated with the holderFrom USD 15,000
Time to launchMonthsShorter than a full application2 to 6 weeks
Ongoing economics10% of gross income to the JCJ, plus fixed bondsContractual, plus the holder's regulatory costsRevenue share up to 30%

The Operador Designado route is the part of Panama's framework most comparison pages miss, and it is genuinely useful: art. 17 still puts you through the fit-and-proper tests of arts. 5 and 6, so it is not a way around due diligence, but it removes the bonding and the Derecho de Llave from your entry cost.

White-label first and your own license later is a legitimate sequence for testing whether a market works. It stops being right once revenue share on a growing book exceeds the fixed regulatory cost. Detail on both routes: white-label online casino solutions.

How does Panama compare with other gaming licenses?

Panama is the most heavily bonded of the offshore options, at B/.600,000 in bonds plus B/.50,000 per domain and 10% of gross income. Anjouan and Costa Rica cost a fraction of that, Curaçao carries a high annual fee instead of bonds, and Malta charges less at entry than Panama bonds but takes about a year.

Panama against four alternatives

JurisdictionGovernment costGaming chargeLocal presenceTime to licenseStanding with banks
PanamaB/.50,000 per license per domain, plus B/.500,000 and B/.100,000 bonds10% of gross income, monthlyOffices and call centre in PanamaNot fixed by the reglamento; plan in monthsMid-tier; EU non-cooperative listing counts against it
AnjouanFrom EUR 17,828 government fee0%NoneFrom 4 weeks, typically 6 to 8Entry-level, thinnest of the five
CuraçaoEUR 4,592 application plus EUR 150 per UBO, then EUR 47,450 a year for B2C0% gaming taxLocal company, office, resident key person3 to 6 monthsRecognised offshore brand, costly since the 2024 reform
Costa RicaFrom USD 6,500, then from USD 5,000 a year0% on offshore incomeCompany, office and servers in Costa Rica5 to 6 weeksNo gaming regulator at all, which some acquirers reject
MaltaEUR 5,000 application plus EUR 25,000 a year, plus compliance contribution from EUR 15,0005% on Maltese revenue only, rising to 15% for Type 1 and 10% for Types 2 to 4 from 1 October 2026Local company and substanceAbout 12 monthsStrongest of the five, EU-regulated

Figures are stated in the currency each regulator sets and collects, with no exchange rate applied. The Panamanian balboa is pegged to the US dollar at 1:1. Costa Rica is included for comparison but issues no Costa Rican gaming license at all: operators there hold a data processing license, a different instrument.

Read the table by constraint, not by price. If tier-1 European banking decides your business, Malta is the only column that answers. If speed and cost decide it, Anjouan wins and Panama does not compete. Panama earns its place when you want a national Latin American regulator with a real rulebook, and you have the balance sheet to post the bonds.

Advantages of a Panama gaming license

Panama offers a genuine national regulator with a detailed published rulebook, one license covering sportsbook and casino together, up to five domains under a single contract, servers permitted outside the country, no residency requirement on directors, and a framework that has licensed online operators since 2002.

  • Sportsbook and casino sit under the same Licencia de Juego, so a dual-vertical operator files one application

  • The rulebook is public and specific, down to player account rules and website requirements, which shortens compliance arguments with payment providers

  • Servers may stay outside Panama, so existing hosting can remain in place (art. 29.3)

  • Directors and shareholders may hold any nationality, with no residency requirement on individuals

  • A Spanish-speaking regulator in a Latin American time zone, which matters if LATAM is your market

  • The Operador Designado mechanism in art. 17 offers a licensed route to market without the full bonding

  • Up to five domains under one contract, useful for multi-brand operators (art. 16)

  • No fixed minimum capital. Working capital is set by the business plan the JCJ approves, not by a statutory floor

  • Panama uses the US dollar alongside the balboa at parity, which removes currency friction from fee planning

Disadvantages of a Panama gaming license

Panama's drawbacks are capital and reputation. Bonding of B/.600,000 puts it beyond most first-time operators, the JCJ takes 10% of gross income monthly, the license opens no regulated market, and Panama's AML history plus its EU non-cooperative listing raise the price of banking.

  • B/.500,000 performance bond and B/.100,000 annual prize bond, which together exceed the whole cost of several offshore alternatives

  • 10% of gross income paid monthly to the JCJ, against 0% in Anjouan, Curaçao and Costa Rica

  • The Derecho de Llave is charged per domain, so multi-brand plans multiply the fee

  • No market access. The license permits operation and opens nothing, and US-facing traffic draws enforcement

  • Bingo, lottery and horse racing are excluded, which rules Panama out for some products

  • Offices and a call centre in Panama are mandatory, a real operating cost that Anjouan does not impose

  • A ".pa" domain is required, which constrains brand and SEO plans built on a .com

  • Five years of gaming experience is required at shareholder or president level, which blocks some first-time entrants

  • Tier-1 banks apply extra AML scrutiny, and player trust sits below Malta and the UK

MGL publishes this list because operators who discover these after posting a bond become former clients. If the bonding or the excluded verticals are fatal for your plan, the honest answer is a different jurisdiction. Ask which jurisdiction fits your model

Why choose MGL Solutions for a Panama license?

MGL Solutions has obtained 300+ licenses across offshore, onshore and EU jurisdictions. On Panama we work from the reglamento itself rather than from recycled comparison tables, which is why our cost model includes the bonding and the 10% revenue participation that most published Panama figures leave out.

  • We run the company, the JCJ filing, the internal control manual and the banking approach as one project, so nothing falls between a corporate agent and a gaming lawyer

  • We check your shareholders against the ten-year fit-and-proper standard before the JCJ does, so problems surface while they are still fixable

  • We structure around the real constraints, including the art. 6 experience requirement and the Operador Designado alternative when full bonding does not fit

  • Payment and banking introductions through a vetted network, supported by an external payments specialist with 8+ years in high-risk processing

  • We work directly across all license types, offshore through EU tier-1, so our jurisdiction advice is not steered by what we can sell

  • Post-license support on the monthly revenue filings, the annual bond, the external audit and Law 527 readiness, where most of the real work sits

FAQ

Everything you need to know about Our company. Can't find the answer you're looking for? Please chat to our team.

Yes. Gambling is legal and regulated in Panama. Decreto Ley No. 2 of 10 February 1998 restructured the Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), Resolución No. 65 of 2002 opened online licensing, and Resolución No. 11 of 6 March 2020 is the online reglamento in force.

A Panama gaming license runs for the term of the Contrato de Administración y Operación, capped at seven years by art. 22 of the 2002 reglamento and conditional on fees being current. Whether Resolución No. 11 of 2020 kept that cap is unconfirmed, so verify the term in your contract.

No. A Panama gaming license confers no right to serve US players. On 28 April 2025 the Michigan Gaming Control Board issued cease-and-desist orders to two Panama-based operators, SportsBetting.ag and BetOnline.ag. Operators must geo-block the United States and every market they are not licensed to serve.

Resolución No. 11 of 2020 does not address cryptocurrency. Art. 29.7 limits prize payment to bank account deposits, credit cards, other methods the banking system permits, and voucher redemption at approved venues, which does not contemplate crypto payouts. Confirm any crypto model with the JCJ before launch.

Yes. Foreign owners hold a Panama gaming license through a company constituted in Panama or registered as a foreign company with the Public Registry. Directors and shareholders may be of any nationality with no residency requirement, and the ten-year fit-and-proper investigation applies regardless of nationality.

Yes. Art. 29.2 of Resolución No. 11 of 2020 requires the operator to have offices and a call centre in the Republic of Panama, holding the documentation the reglamento requires. Gaming servers may sit outside Panama if the exact location is declared and a Certificado de Cumplimiento is filed.

The Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ) is Panama's national gaming regulator, operating under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The JCJ awards operating contracts and gaming licenses, vets individuals through Certificados de Idoneidad, audits licensees, and enforces breaches through fines, suspension or cancellation.

Law 527 of 2026 sets fines of B/.25,000 to B/.100,000, doubling on repeat breach, plus suspension or cancellation of the license, and up to B/.1,000,000 for unlicensed operation. Three months of arrears on the monthly revenue payment can trigger rescission of the contract under Resolución No. 11 of 2020.

Heading: Get the real Panama numbers before you commit

Body: Panama charges per web domain, plus B/.600,000 in bonds and 10% of gross income monthly. Send us your verticals and markets, and we will tell you what it costs you.

Get the real Panama numbers before you commit

Panama charges per web domain, plus B/.600,000 in bonds and 10% of gross income monthly. Send us your verticals and markets, and we will tell you what it costs you.