THE CUSTODY OF SECURITIES IN THE NETHERLANDS CARIBBEAN
Separate legal entity
Generally, securities that must be held by a Netherlands Antilles bank on behalf of its clients will be held by a custodian. In most cases the custodian is either a foundation (‘stichting’) or a wholly owned subsidiary (NV or BV) of the bank.
The scope of the activities of the custodian will be limited to holding shares, bonds, notes, certificates and other securities. The insolvency risk of the custodian is therefore minimized. Alternatively, these securities can also be held in the name of the custodian by independent custody companies abroad, including brokers, agents and sub-custodians. In both …
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LIABILITY OF DE FACTO MANAGING DIRECTORS IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
Policy maker can be held liable
As a general rule a corporation in the Netherlands Antilles is a legal entity distinct from its shareholders. In terms of liability for mismanagement the law focuses on the managing directors as well as other persons who actually “act as managers” (a.k.a. policy makers or de facto managing directors).
Most legal commentators take the view that instructions from a parent company to a subsidiary do not, as such, constitute “management” in the above sense. However, statutory language is ambiguous and there is no Netherlands Antilles case law on this issue. Those who “act as …
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