TRADE-BASED MONEY LAUNDERING
More Trade Transparency Units Needed
Smuggling and trade fraud are on the rise, according to Viêt Nam News (27 October 2015). The Telegraph reports that the authorities in China have arrested 21 people on suspicion of defrauding almost one million Chinese investors of 50bn yuan (£5.3 billion) after an online peer-to-peer lender turned out to be a giant Ponzi scheme (1 February 2016). Money laundering and fraud seem to be on the increase. Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) is one of the big threats facing us today.
According to Premium Times (21 December 2015; Read the rest »
CONSOLIDATED BANKRUPTCY
Creditors, stay alert!
Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the BES-islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) will together be referred to as the Dutch Caribbean, although each has its own set of laws.
Bankruptcy in general serves the purpose of liquidating assets of a particular person or legal entity and distributing the proceeds among the combined creditors. Sometimes, several companies belonging to one and the same group of companies go bankrupt. In principle, the trustee in bankruptcy has to administer and liquidate the assets of each of the bankrupt estates individually.
When multiple companies of the same group go bankrupt, it …
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INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
The UNCITRAL Model Law is applicable
Parties with a legal dispute can turn to the public court system to settle the dispute; however, instead of bringing a lawsuit in a public court, they can also opt for arbitration. Arbitration is a form of private dispute settlement in which the parties instruct one or more persons (arbitrators) to render a binding decision on their dispute. The arbitrators may be jurists, but they can also be laypersons. People with specific expertise or experience in a certain branch or industry are often chosen as arbitrator.
Parties can include a so-called arbitration clause in …
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UN PROSPERO AÑA NOBO 2016
Een voorspoedig Nieuwjaar
Un Próspero aña nobo
A Prosperous new year
Un próspero Año Nuevo
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MAKING FUN OF LAWYERS
Makes me smile…
The image that people have of lawyers is usually determined by coincidences. This may be a personal experience with their own lawyer or that of the counterparty. But even more will the image be determined by the relatively small group of lawyers who get publicity.
A. Pitlo (Evolutie in het privaatrecht, [Evolution in private law] Groningen: H.D. Tjeenk Willink 1972, p. 102) speaks with regard to certain lawyers about the ‘half-intellect’ that by intellectualism must succeed in being kept up towards the masses. Publications that are extremely critical of lawyers can date from any time and the first …
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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BOSS
Three different personas during testimony
There are matters to consider before you enter a courtroom as plaintiff, defendant or witness: for instance, what you say, your body language, how you present yourself and what you wear. The judge will be watching you. You don’t believe me? Read for yourself!
The judge about the defendant:
Murdock tried out three different personas during his testimony. During his deposition, he showed the true force of his domineering personality. During the first day of trial, Murdock tried to appear more reasonable and conciliatory on direct, but on cross-examination, he could not resist being combative. He denied …
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BESTUURDERSAANSPRAKELIJKHEID
Symposium Sint Maarten 1 december 2015
Het Ministerie van Justitie te Sint Maarten en de Orde van Advocaten te Sint Maarten hebben op 1 december 2015 een symposium over Boek 2 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek van Sint Maarten georganiseerd.
De sprekers waren prof.mr. Peter van Schilfgaarde, prof.mr. Gerard van Solinge, mr. Jeroen Eichhorn en ikzelf. Mijn bijdrage ging over bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid. De tekst van mijn bijdrage is hier te vinden. Wat ik over het recht van St. Maarten te melden heb geldt ook voor Aruba, Curacao en de BES-eilanden.
Karel Frielink
(3 december 2015)
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HET BESTUUR VAN EEN RECHTSPERSOON
Het belang van de rechtspersoon moet worden gediend
De taakvervulling door een bestuurder van een (privaatrechtelijke) rechtspersoon is niet vrijblijvend. Op de bestuurder rust een inspanningsverplichting. In artikel 2:8 lid 3 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek (van Curaçao, St. Maarten en de BES-eilanden) is een belangrijke norm voor die taakvervulling vastgelegd:
Bij de vervulling van zijn taak richt het bestuur zich naar het belang van de rechtspersoon en, voor zover daarvan sprake is, de met deze verbonden onderneming.
Die norm geldt overigens ook in Aruba.
Er bestaat natuurlijk niet zoiets als ‘het’ belang van de rechtspersoon. Er is bijna altijd sprake van …
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THE DUTY OF CARE OF BANKS
Banks are under the obligation to exercise due care
In the Dutch Caribbean, no separately defined body of law exists with regard to the relationship between a (commercial) bank and its customer. The standard general terms and conditions applied by banks in the Dutch Caribbean have an important function in the legal relationship between banks and their customers. They enter into effect once explicitly or implicitly accepted by the customer.
According to most general conditions “the bank shall exercise due care on rendering its services. In doing so the bank shall reckon to the best of its ability with the client’s interests, …
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LIABILITY OF COMPANY DIRECTORS
No derivative suit
It is considered a general rule of Dutch Caribbean corporate law that the management board (a.k.a. board of directors) must act in the best interests of the company (an NV or BV) in the performance of its duties, even when acting on instructions from others (e.g. shareholders). This includes the interests of the shareholders, the employees and, according to most legal writers, the creditors of the company.
Under the Civil Codes of Curacao, St. Maarten and the BES-islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba), directors of a limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap or besloten vennootschap) are personally and …
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BZSE – ST. MAARTEN DAY AD
No ship-jumpers!
Have you seen our ad in the newspaper earlier this week?
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(13 November 2015)
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SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR SELLING ALL ASSETS
In particular circumstances this rule may be set aside
Generally speaking, the management board of a company (NV or BV) is not entitled to sell the company’s business or a substantial part thereof, without the approval of the shareholders’ meeting. The Enterprise Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam confirmed this in its decision of 27 February 2014 (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2014:597; JOR 2014, 160). According to the Court, (the managing board of) a legal entity that intends selling all shares in its subsidiaries must observe the requirements for adopting a resolution to liquidate that entity.
According to Section 2:7(2) of the Civil …
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