Seychelles is familiar to Georgian clients more as a holding jurisdiction than as a gambling market — and that ratio is itself accurate. The jurisdiction's peculiarity lies elsewhere: the Financial Services Authority (FSA) combines two functions in one house — registrar of International Business Companies (IBC) and regulator of gambling. That has a practical consequence for structuring: the holding and the licence are administered from the same address, but the licensee population is small and the regime remains a niche — this is not a volume jurisdiction. Below we examine what the two registers actually show, how the fees are fixed in the official schedule, and what a Seychelles structure means under Georgian law.
One Regulator, Two Registers: What the FSA Publishes
Gambling on Seychelles is regulated by the Financial Services Authority under the Gambling Act 2014, with fees set by the Gambling (Fees) Regulations 2018. The FSA's public register is presented in three tabs — Casino, Slot Machine and Interactive Gambling — so a single register shows who holds which format. On current data, the sole active interactive-gambling licensee is Amazon Betting (Proprietary) Limited of Victoria, Mahé; among casino licences the register names, among others, Berjaya International Casino, Star Casino, Victoria Casino and Club Liberte. The picture is unambiguous: one interactive licensee and a handful of casinos across the whole jurisdiction — this is a niche-sized regime. Land-based betting is licensed separately by the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA), outside the FSA's frame.
The IBC Layer: Company, Agent and Beneficial Ownership
The same FSA serves as Registrar of International Business Companies under the IBC Act 2016, in force since December 2016 and consolidated as of 11 July 2025. Incorporation runs through a licensed registered agent, and the register of beneficial owners is kept at the registered office. The application document set is fixed by official forms: an entity questionnaire, a personal questionnaire, and a shareholders-and-beneficial-owners questionnaire. In a gambling context this means the following: a Seychelles IBC works well as a holding when the description of its ultimate beneficiaries and its activity is precise and transparent with the agent — because exactly these data become the backbone of the file the Georgian side will eventually see.
Fees, Transfer Rules and the Shape of the Licensee Population
Per the official schedule, the application fee is SCR 50,000, with SCR 300,000 provided for annual and other charges — these figures come from the official document and should be re-verified from it at the moment of use. Transfers of licences are governed by sections 15(4)(a) and 15(7) of the Gambling Act — a licence is not a freely transferable asset, and any transfer plan must be checked against those provisions from the outset. As for whether the interactive licence covers sports betting — that is an open question to be confirmed with the FSA, as is the modernisation status of the 2014 Act, on which only the trade press writes.
The Georgian Cross-Border Layer for a Seychelles Structure
A Seychelles IBC, like any foreign holding, opens its own layer under Georgian law and substitutes nothing. Under article 5, part 1 of the Law of Georgia on gambling, organising games and supplying them into Georgia requires a Georgian permit, and under article 11, part 2 that permit is issued only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia — a Seychelles licence and a Seychelles company do not change this requirement. Article 80, part 7 of the Tax Code makes the margin — stakes received minus winnings paid — the income-tax object of an individual organiser; article 81 sets the rates, including the 5% line for excess income under a supply permit; article 8 governs player winnings and loss offsets; and article 171(b) keeps gambling services outside VAT in line with the article 172(4)«ს» carve-out. The reporting layer: where a Georgian entity is in the chain, articles 3, 11 and 12 of the AML law apply; article 29(b) requires registration of winnings with reporting to the Financial Monitoring Service; and for system-electronic supply into Georgia, the selected-person regime of article 36-1. Articles 951 and 952 of the Civil Code complete the frame: claims arising from a game exist only where the game is state-permitted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Four questions dominate the Seychelles topic.
Which authority licenses gambling on Seychelles?
The Financial Services Authority — under the Gambling Act 2014 and the 2018 Fees Regulations, with a register split into Casino, Slot Machine and Interactive Gambling tabs. Land-based betting is separate and belongs to the SLA regime.
How much is the application?
Per the official schedule, SCR 50,000 for the application and SCR 300,000 for annual and other charges. This should be re-verified from the FSA's own document at the moment of use, because schedules change.
Can a Seychelles IBC serve as a holding for a gambling business?
Formally yes — under the IBC Act 2016, through a licensed agent, with the beneficial-ownership register at the registered office. But the holding does not replace the Georgian permit: supply into Georgia remains within the frame of articles 5 and 11, and the tax and reporting profile of the Georgian person behind the holding is still determined.
Does the interactive licence cover sports betting?
Not officially settled — a question to confirm with the FSA, like the modernisation status of the 2014 Act. This page names both topics as open and does not repeat trade-press speculation.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Legal.ge builds the Seychelles question in three layers: we establish the current state of the FSA's registers and match the licence category to your model; we prepare the IBC incorporation file — agent selection, the questionnaire set, and a correct description of beneficial ownership; and in parallel we assemble the Georgian layer — who is the responsible person under articles 5 and 11, what tax applies within articles 80 and 81, and what reporting starts under article 29(b) and the AML law. Every figure we hand you rests on the official schedule; every open question is phrased for the FSA. Contact us to build the Seychelles structure correctly from the start, rather than untangling it later.