GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
At the dawn of Good Governance
Is corporate governance an old or young phenomenon? For starters, let’s travel back in time a bit. I won’t go as far as mankind’s earliest days; I’ll make a stop in Ancient Greece, to Plato’s (427 – 347 B.C.E.) lifetime, to be specific. You may have heard of this philosopher, a lover of wisdom. And the man behind the concept of Platonic love, of course. [Note: Philosopher is the opposite of philodoxer, i.e., the lover of opinions or beliefs.]
Plato himself mistrusted and generally advised against physical expressions of love. But you and I …
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DEVELOPMENTS IN DUTCH CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL LAW
New ordinances and rules to be introduced in 2021
In Curacao and St. Maarten major changes are in the pipeline when it comes to regulatory legislation. In July 2020, the Central Bank (CBCS) launched a consultation round on the draft of three national ordinances and a regulation containing generally binding rules. The first draft concerns the supervision of payment service providers. In order to increase confidence in digital payment services, the draft provides for licensing requirements, substantive rules, oversight of systems, and enforcement and supervision by the CBCS. Promoting a better and more trusted market for card payments, Internet payments …
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THE STRUCTURE OF A DUTCH CARIBBEAN FUND
It is easy and inexpensive to set up a SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)
From a legal point of view, establishing a fund in Curaçao is very attractive under the corporate law in force since March 1, 2004, whereby a private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap) can be established very quickly and flexibly. Virtually everything is possible with this new legal entity. There is no minimum issued share capital requirement. Incorporation may be done within a day does not require any prior governmental approval. It is possible to split voting rights and dividend rights. There is no statutory requirement to have …
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COMPLIANCE IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
Curacao considers how the US deals with compliance
Compliance is essentially about systems and procedures at corporations, banks, funds, trust offices, insurance companies and the like, to ensure that their officers and employees are aware of and take steps to comply with the relevant laws and regulations. It is also referred to as ‘regulatory compliance’. Compliance is nowadays, in the aftermath of, Enron, for example, which collapsed in 2001, of the utmost importance. I will briefly discuss several compliance related issues below, however one should keep in mind that the concept of compliance is extremely broad.
The …
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ARUBA LEGISLATION AGAINST MONEY-LAUNDERING
The government continues to improve the system
Since the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) evaluation in 1995, Aruba has passed new legislation and undertaken a number of other measures aimed at strengthening its anti-money laundering system. In February 1996, the Reporting Ordinance and the Identification Ordinance came into effect. Following the passage of these measures, the government has sought to address concerns relating to the casino and gambling industry, the use of legal entities, the import and export of cash and the Aruba Free Zone. Reports were prepared, which make recommendations for strengthening the anti-money laundering measures in these sectors, …
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