CURACAO CREDIT INSTITUTIONS

Prudential supervision

The Curacao regulatory legislation applicable to credit institutions provides for requirements with regard to the prudential supervision in general. Such prudential supervision sees to the liquidity and solvency position of a bank without going into further detail for instance as to the safekeeping of assets or maintaining of accounts of third parties.

The Curacao legislation provides for reporting requirements that need to be submitted to the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS). However, these requirements apply only to banks regulated in Curacao.

On the basis of such reports and accounts the CBCS has the authority to …
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12
Oct 2012
CATEGORY

Legal

COMMENTS No Comments

CURACAO FUNDS AND ADMINISTRATORS

Statutory requirements applicable to the organizational and legal structure

The National Ordinance on the Supervision of Investment Institutions and Administators (Landsverordening regelende het toezicht op beleggingsinstellingen en administrateurs; NOSIIA) provides for a regime of supervision for investment institutions and administrators with the objective of an adequate operation of the financial markets and the protection of investors in such markets.

With regard to the business operation of a local fund that operates within the scope of the NOSIIA it provides for requirements applicable to the organizational and legal structure as expressed in the fund’s constitutive documents. Such requirements address the conditions …
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05
Oct 2012
CATEGORY

Finance

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SEMINAR ONDERNEMINGSRECHT

22, 23 en 24 oktober 2012

Het ondernemingsrecht is continu in beweging. Hier bij ons in Curacao, maar ook in Nederland. Boek 2 van het Burgerlijk Wetboek Curacao is op 1 januari 2012 op tal van punten gewijzigd. Wat houden deze wijzigingen precies in? Wat betekent de invoering van de Flex-BV in Nederland per 1 oktober 2012 voor Curacao?

Denk wat Curacao betreft bijvoorbeeld ook aan de invoering van een integrale regeling inzake het enqueterecht per 1 januari 2012. Het is nu mogelijk om het Hof van Justitie een of meer onderzoekers te laten benoemen om onderzoek naar (vermeend) wanbeleid …
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21
Sep 2012
CATEGORY

Corporate

COMMENTS No Comments

INTERNATIONAL CREDIT INSTITUTIONS IN CURACAO

Banking business abroad

Credit institutions (banks) in Curacao are subject to the National Ordinance on the Supervision of Banking and Credit Institutions 1994 (the NOSB). The NOSB makes a distinction between ‘credit institutions’ and ‘international credit institutions’. The NOSB defines a credit institution as an institution that to an important extent makes its business of:

  • the solicitation of repayable funds (“deposits”, whether term deposits or deposits which are repayable on demand, whether or not savings deposits, whether or not against issue of debt instruments); and
  • granting credit for its own account.
  • An ‘international credit institution’ is defined as a credit …
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    13
    Sep 2012
    CATEGORY

    Legal

    COMMENTS No Comments

    CIVIL PROCEEDINGS IN CURACAO

    Information for foreign plaintiffs

    Are there any particular issues that concern foreign plaintiffs in Curacao? If proceedings on the merits are initiated by a non-resident plaintiff, the defendant may ask the court to order that the plaintiff provide security for damages, costs and interest which it might be liable to pay as a result of the judgment in aforementioned proceedings. This ‘cautio judicatum solvi’ does not apply if there is a Convention (Treaty) on legal proceedings between Curacao and the plaintiff’s country.

    Can attorney costs for legal proceedings be recovered? Generally speaking, each party has to bear its own attorney …
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    25
    Aug 2012
    CATEGORY

    Legal

    COMMENTS No Comments

    PARALLEL DEBT IN CURACAO

    New legislation

    It has become market practice in Curacao, and also in the Netherlands, to create a separate (parallel) obligation, owed by the borrower (or guarantor) to the security agent in its own name, on the terms and in an amount equal to the original (principal) obligations owing by the borrower (or guarantor) to the lenders.

    The security rights are then granted to the security agent in its own name to secure the parallel debt. This “parallel debt” structure is usually reflected in the facility agreement and gives the security agent an own and independent right to demand payment by …
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    18
    Feb 2012
    CATEGORY

    Finance

    COMMENTS No Comments

    LEGAL MERGERS IN CURACAO

    The Curacao Civil Code provides for a simplified merger procedure

    The acquisition of a business enterprise may take place through the purchase of shares (take-over), the purchase of assets and liabilities or a legal / statutory merger. The Curacao Legal Code on corporate and other legal persons contains detailed provisions for mergers of companies limited by shares (NV) and private limited companies (BV).

    Basically, a legal merger entails the absorption of one legal entity by another in exchange for shares, or even without such exchange. The absorbed entity ceases to exist. A legal merger requires a notarial deed. Legal mergers …
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    21
    Nov 2011
    CATEGORY

    Corporate

    COMMENTS No Comments

    CREDIT INSTITUTIONS IN CURACAO AND ST. MAARTEN

    A license is required

    The National Ordinance on the supervision of banking and credit institutions 1994 (Landsverordening toezicht bank- en kredietwezen, the “NOSB”) of both Curacao and St. Maarten prohibits any one (other than a licensed Credit Institution) from – directly or indirectly – soliciting funds from the public or extending credit to the public (art. 45 NOSB).

    It should be noted that the Explanatory Memorandum to the NOSB bestows a wide scope on the term “public”, i.e. anyone other than a licensed Credit Institution. The Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten may grant individual exemptions from this prohibition. …
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    17
    Sep 2011
    CATEGORY

    Finance

    COMMENTS No Comments

    INVESTMENT INSTITUTIONS IN CURACAO AND ST. MAARTEN

    Raising money without a license is prohibited

    The National Ordinance on the Supervision of Investment Institutions and Administrators 2002 (Landsverordening toezicht beleggingsinstellingen en administrateurs, a.k.a. “NOSIIA”) of both Curacao and St. Maarten prohibits raising, or obtaining, pecuniary means or other property for the purpose of participating in an investment institution that has not been granted a license by the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten, and prohibits  offering participating interests in such an investment institution in or from Curacao or St. Maarten respectively.

    Investment institutions may be exempted from this prohibition if the moneys or goods to be exchanged for …
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    07
    Sep 2011
    CATEGORY

    Finance

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    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 …
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    21
    May 2011
    CATEGORY

    Legal

    COMMENTS No Comments

    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 …
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    24
    Jun 2009
    CATEGORY

    Legal

    COMMENTS No Comments

    PLC CROSS BORDER LAW FIRM RECOMMENDATIONS

    Netherlands Antilles

    According to PLC Cross Border (Which lawyer?), Spigthoff Attorneys & Tax Advisers is one of two firms dominating the Netherlands Antilles market for international work, both on- and offshore.

    Spigthoff ranks high in corporate / M&A and dispute resolution.

    Martijn Welten, who specialises in corporate law, mergers & aquisitions and corporate litigation, is (highly) recommended in the areas of dispute resolution and corporate/M&A. 

    Karel Frielink comes recommended in the area of high net-worth private clients. Karel is highly recommended in the areas of …
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    16
    Mar 2009
    CATEGORY

    Legal

    COMMENTS No Comments