WHAT HAVE THE CURACAO POLITICIANS DONE TO THE PEOPLE?
A majority voted against ratification of the agreement with The Netherlands, which agreement would have given Curacao an autonomous status within the Kingdom of The Netherlands
On 28 November 2006, a majority of the Curacao politicians voted against the agreement (‘slotverklaring’) with The Netherlands which was entered into on 2 November 2006. A historical mistake!
The result: all the islands of the Netherlands Antilles have an agreement with the Netherlands, except for Curacao. This is bad news for the people of Curacao and the generations to come, very bad news. There is now a risk of financial …
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WHAT IS AN INSURANCE AGREEMENT UNDER NETHERLANDS ANTILLES LAW?
Cover for actual damage as a result of an uncertain event
According to article 315 of the ‘Wetboek van Koophandel Nederlandse Antillen’ (Netherlands Antilles Commercial Code) “Insurance is the agreement whereby an insurer commits itself to the insured, against receipt of a premium, to compensate the latter for a loss, damage or loss of expected advantage which the insured could suffer as a result of an uncertain event“.
Based on this definition the main elements of insurance agreements are held to be (i) the presence of an insurable interest on the part of the insured party, (ii) a specified future …
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THE OFFERING OF NOTES IN THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Only to licensed credit institutions
Any Notes (including rights representing an interest in a Note in global form) that are offered as part of their initial distribution or by way of re-offering in the Netherlands Antilles, shall, in order to comply with the Netherlands Antilles National Ordinance on the supervision of banking and credit institutions 1994, only be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in the Netherlands Antilles to credit institutions licensed in accordance with the Ordinance or with the benefit of an individual exemption granted by the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles.
Insofar as services and/or products are offered …
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HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY IS STILL GROWING RAPIDLY
How should we adapt to cope with this?
Offering traditional funds and structures is no longer attractive. The industry should more focus on, e.g., Asia. Areas to be addressed are tax, costs, asset classes, performance, regulatory issues and local or regional requirements.
The Netherlands Antilles (especially Curacao) provides a favorable tax, legal and regulatory climate for (hedge) funds. Examples of advantages: tax neutral environment; speed of formation; flexible corporate structure; very sophisticated and well organized supervisory authority; no mandatory (Netherlands Antilles) governing law in relation to transaction documentation; sophisticated regulatory regime; and license exemption possibilities and plain vanilla registration. But …
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HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR LEGAL BLOG?
Should blogs be promoted?
For some (legal) bloggers it is still lonely ‘out there’ (in cyberspace). What can we do to help and support each other? Should we exchange content? Should we link to each other? Can we help each other with referrals?
You undoubtedly have heard or read about search engine optimization, blog submission, key words, metatags, etcetera.
Should legal bloggers promote their blog and how? Should they hire someone to help them? Who are the good and the bad ones? See for example Kevin O’Keefe’s Legal Blog. I’m looking forward to your views and …
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WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF LEGAL BLOGGING?
Why would one blog anyway?
Why should lawyers blog? Does it help growing their network? Are there any disadvantages?
Have we any idea how many legal bloggers there are? How many ‘success stories’ do we know about? Is it a great time to start a legal blog? What is the future of legal blogging? Will this network of legal bloggers still exist in say five years?
I really look forward to your responses.
Karel Frielink Attorney (lawyer) / Partner
THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES WILL CEASE TO EXIST
Historic agreement
The Netherlands Antilles consist of five islands: Bonaire and Curaçao (together with Aruba constituting the so-called ABC Islands, or Leeward Antilles, located in the South western Caribbean, near Venezuela). Curaçao is the largest island of the Netherlands Antilles; and Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten (together constituting the three S’s, or Windward Islands, located in the North eastern Caribbean, near Puerto Rico). St. Maarten consists of a Dutch and a French part, the latter of which does not form part of the Netherlands Antilles.
On 2 November 2006, the Dutch government and the Netherlands Antilles have signed an …
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THE ARUBA TAX EXEMPT COMPANY
Changes per 1st January 2006
Up to January 1, 2006 an Aruba Tax Exempt company had only a few limitations in what activities the company wanted to contemplate.
However, as of January 1, 2006 the Aruba government has changed the law under pressure of the OECD and the EU. The Aruba Exempt Company is now treated as any normal company which means that it has to prepare annual accounts and provide information to the Aruba tax authorities when asked. It is, however, still possible to be exempt from both the profit tax and the dividend withholding tax if the activities …
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TRANSFERING SHARES IN A NETHERLANDS ANTILLES BANK
Approval Central Bank required
The (indirect) transfer of shares in a Netherlands Antilles credit institution (bank), a so-called change of control, is subject to the prior written approval of the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles. For this approval the Central Bank evaluates the identity, financial position and the antecedents of the prospective (indirect) shareholders.
Therefore, the management of such credit institution should submit the following information of the prospective (indirect) shareholders to the Central Bank:
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ACQUIRING A NETHERLANDS ANTILLES OFFSHORE COMPANY
At least one local director or representative required
Under Netherlands Antilles law, no specific requirements exist regarding the purchase of shares in a Netherlands Antilles offshore company by a foreign company.
According to Netherlands Antilles corporate law, in principle shares are transferable. However, there is one exception. The articles of association may exclude or limit the transfer of registered shares. Quite often the articles of a Netherlands Antilles NV offer the possibility of converting registered shares into bearer shares. In principle, the transferability of such bearer shares is not limited. In order to qualify for a business license and …
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SEVERANCE PAYMENTS UNDER THE LAWS OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
The employer’s obligation to award severance pay is mandatory
The Netherlands Antilles Severance Ordinance obliges the employer to award an employee whose employment terminates, a single payment (article 3 Paragraph 1). This single payment is a ‘statutory payment’ as distinct from compensation for e.g. early termination of an employment agreement, usually also called a severance payment.
An exception is made to this obligation in the fourth paragraph of the article mentioned in the case of “an employee enjoying the benefit of a pension or payment in lieu of pension or old age benefit, made available upon termination of his employment”.
CHARLIE McCREEVY SHOWS HIS TEETH: GAMING WAR CONTINUES
23 October 06: Interview with EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy for German magazine “Der Spiegel” on the „Lotto war“ between the EU and Germany:
“Same right applies to all”
Spiegel: “Still in this year the German (federal) Prime Ministers are planning to sign a new lottery state treaty and by doing that cementing the current state monopoly. Are you going to accept that?”
McCreevy: “Not at all. Even the restrictive regulations for Gambling providers currently applying for Germany are not acceptable from the EU-commissions point of view. They exclude private providers, are opposing the freedom of services in the …
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