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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15
Dec 2015
CATEGORY

Legal

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KAREL FRIELINK FULL MEMBER OF STEP

Trust and Estate Practitioner

The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) was founded in 1991 by George Tasker as a hub for local forums of practitioners. STEP is the international professional body for those who work in the trust industry and the (often overlapping) field of estate administration. Its members are mainly solicitors, barristers, attorneys, accountants, trust officers and trust administrators as well as banking and insurance professionals in the trust field.

The main focus of the organization is to administer the examination process to ensure the quality of the membership, to provide educational and networking opportunities …
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10
Dec 2015
CATEGORY

Legal

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HARMONISATIE TOEZICHTSWETGEVING CURACAO

Ingrijpende wijzigingen

Op 9 november 2015 is door de Staten van Curaçao aangenomen de ‘Landsverordening tot wijziging van de Landsverordening toezicht bank- en kredietwezen 1994, de Landsverordening Toezicht Verzekeringsbedrijf, de Landsverordening toezicht effectenbeurzen, de Landsverordening toezicht beleggingsinstellingen en administrateurs, de Landsverordening toezicht trustwezen, de Landsverordening Assurantiebemiddelingsbedrijf en de Landsverordening toezicht geldtransactiekantoren’ (korter aangeduid als: Landsverordening actualisering en harmonisatie toezichtlandsverordeningen Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten; PB 2015, 67). Deze landsverordening beslaat 160 bladzijden en is op 4 december 2015 gepubliceerd.

Ik noem hier één wijziging en wel die ziet op de openbaarmaking van bestuurlijke boetes en lasten onder dwangsom. De …
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04
Dec 2015
CATEGORY

Finance

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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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03
Dec 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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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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28
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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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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21
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Finance

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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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18
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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VEROORDELING VERZWEGEN BIJ SOLLICITATIE

Aangenomen maar alsnog ontslagen

Als je solliciteert hoef je niet alles aan je potentiële werkgever te vertellen. Er zijn bovendien onderwerpen waarnaar een werkgever niet eens mag vragen, zoals seksuele geaardheid en of je zwanger bent.

Maar als je strafrechtelijk bent veroordeeld voor valsheid in geschrifte kan dat anders liggen. Dat ondervond X, die solliciteerde voor een belangrijke functie bij een overheidsstichting, maar verzweeg dat hij in hoger beroep was veroordeeld wegens valsheid in geschrifte en zich schuldig had gemaakt aan fraude met gemeenschapsgelden, en dat zijn strafzaak nog in cassatie aanhangig was.

X was door de overheidsstichting aangenomen, en …
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13
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Legal

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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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13
Nov 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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11
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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LEGAL DOCUMENTS ARE HARD TO READ DUE TO LEGALESE LANGUAGE

Lawyers must learn to communicate with their clients

Communication skills are particularly important for lawyers. On the one hand lawyers have to accurately debate legal issues with like-skilled/trained people and on the other hand they have to explain all this to people without any legal education, many of which are vulnerable. That is not as easy as it sounds: legalese vs plain language.

I know that many people are dissatisfied and frustrated by lawyers’ communication efforts. I asked one of my networking contacts what she could teach a lawyer / attorney. Her response:

“I have worked with lawyers in my …
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02
Nov 2015
CATEGORY

Legal

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KNOWLEDGE CEO CAN BE IMPUTED TO CORPORATION

Interesting opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Knowledge can be both actual and constructive. The question is under what circumstances actual knowledge, for instance the CEO’s knowledge, can be imputed to the corporation. This question was addressed by the Ninth Circuit in its opinion of 23 October 2015 (securities class action lawsuit against ChinaCast Education Corporation et al).

Summary (prepared by court staff):

Reversing the dismissal of a securities fraud claim, the panel held that a CEO’s fraud could be imputed to his corporate employer, even though his alleged embezzlement and misleading …
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26
Oct 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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