THE CURACAO TRUSTEE
Breach of trust results in liability
Usually a Curacao trust office (service provider) uses one of its own public limited liability companies (NVs) or private companies with limited liability (BVs) to provide the services. This in-house NV or BV will then for instance become the managing director of the client company. A trust office offering services as a Trustee will usually also do this in the form of an in-house NV or BV who will act as the Trustee. The Trustee will be able to fulfill this role with regard to multiple trust assets.
For third parties it is important …
Read the rest »
POWERS AND OBLIGATIONS OF A CURACAO TRUSTEE
Brief summary
On 1 January 2012, new legalization entered into force pursuant to which it is now possible to set up a trust, similar to the trust in Anglo-Saxon common law jurisdictions, in Curacao (a civil law jurisdiction).
Here follows a brief summary of several of the powers and obligations of a Trustee:
Read the rest »
SEMINAR CURACAO TRUST
Curacao Trust is expected to become a popular alternative to foreign trusts
On 1 January 2012, new legalization entered into force pursuant to which it is now possible to set up a trust, similar to the trust in Anglo-Saxon common law jurisdictions, in Curacao (a civil law jurisdiction).
On 28 August 2012, a seminar was held by Van Doorne (Amsterdam) and Spigt Dutch Caribbean (Curacao), entitled: The Curacao Trust in Practice. Lecturers: Professor Jan de Boer, Maike Bergervoet, Jeroen Starreveld, Jan Willem Schenk, Davina Mansur and Karel Frielink. The event was attended by more than 150 representatives of the financial …
Read the rest »
REGULATORY LEGISLATION IN CURACAO
General requirements on the business operation
Regulatory legislation in Curacao does not distinguish between different kinds of products, such as for instance hedge funds, but is of a more general nature. The regulatory legislation of Curacao applicable to financial institutions is divided into four categories being: credit institutions, institutional investors, investment institutions & administrators and trust service providers.
The authority entrusted with the supervision on the financial institutions mentioned above is the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten.
The regulatory legislation does provide for general requirements on the business operation of the financial institutes involved. The National Ordinance on …
Read the rest »
CURACAO TRUST LEGISLATION
Entered into force on 1 January 2012
On January 1st 2012, new legalization entered into force pursuant to which it is now possible to set up a trust, similar to the trust in Anglo-Saxon common law jurisdictions, in Curacao. This trust is a legal exception to the paritas creditorum rule as we know it and serves as an important instrument which could be used for asset segregation purposes.
With the introduction of the Curacao Trust and the new paragraph 3 to section 231 of Book 3 of the Curacao Civil Code the need for a parallel debt construction in the …
Read the rest »
TRUST SERVICE PROVIDERS IN CURACAO
TSPs are supervised by the Central Bank
Many international group structures include one or more Curacao legal entities or partnerships. The main reasons for this are the internationally competitive conditions for business development in the area of corporate law and the tax system in Curacao, as well as the well-developed professional financial services industry. Trust Service Providers (“TSPs”) are involved in setting up and maintaining such structures. TSPs conduct the management of legal entities and partnerships (“client companies”) on behalf of other enterprises. Management usually involves the TSP acting as manager of the client company and providing a correspondence address …
Read the rest »
SUPERVISION OF TRUST COMPANIES IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
Trust companies render management services
The supervision of trust companies is dealt with in the National Ordinance on the Supervision of Trust Service Providers 2003 (‘Landsverordening toezicht trustwezen’, the ‘NOST’). Supervision of trust companies (a.k.a. fiduciary or company service providers) falls in the category integrity supervision and not in the category prudential supervision. The supervisor is the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles. The ordinance prohibits anyone from rendering fiduciary or trust services without a license.
According to Art. 10 of the NOST, trust services means: (a) establishing an international company or causing it to be established when such is …
Read the rest »
BES LAW DEVELOPMENTS
Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES)
Within a couple of years, the BES Islands, as public entities, will be part of the country of the Netherlands in the framework of the political restructuring in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The US dollar will be introduced as the new currency in the BES Islands. Curacao and St. Maarten will each become a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and have their own legislation and regulations.
The starting point of the political restructuring is that Dutch legislation will be introduced only gradually into the BES Islands. It has been established that …
Read the rest »
STRUCTURING TRANSACTIONS IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT
Example: Parallel debt structures under Dutch Caribbean law
In a parallel debt structure, a company (the borrower) acknowledges a debt to an appointed agent by promising to pay the agent an amount equal to the sum of the borrower’s obligations under the (syndicated) loan agreement with the lenders. Thus an independent, parallel debt is created between the borrower and the agent for which it is (further) agreed that this debt (not only becomes due and payable but also) will be considered paid and discharged at the same time and to the same extent as the underlying loans so that (of …
Read the rest »
THE DUTCH SUPERVISION ON TRUST COMPANIES (II)
Regulatory framework aims at sound operational management
Section 10 (1) of the Dutch Act on the Supervision of Trust Offices (the ‘ASTO’) states that rules may be issued for trust offices, pursuant to an order in council, i.e. a governmental decree, with the intention of ensuring sound operational management. Such rules were issued in the Order on Sound Operational Management Relating to The ASTO (‘Regeling integere bedrijfsvoering Wet toezicht trustkantoren’; the ‘Order’). The Order is in effect from 1st March 2004.
According to Article 2 (c) of the Order, sound operational management means:
“the management of the organization of the …
Read the rest »
THE DUTCH SUPERVISION ON TRUST COMPANIES (I)
The Dutch Central Bank is the supervisor
The Dutch Act on the Supervision of Trust Offices (‘ASTO’) (‘Wet toezicht trustkantoren’) entered into force on the 1st of March 2004. According to the legislative history, the Explanatory Notes to the Act, the aim of the ASTO is to promote the integrity of the financial system by regulating the trust industry. The Explanatory Notes (Par.3.3) continue:
“The main subject of this bill is the integrity of the trust office and the relational integrity, the integrity of clients of the trust office, in the sense that the buyer (as the ultimate …
Read the rest »