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

COMMENTS No Comments

NO DERIVATIVE ACTION IN CURACAO

A claim based on tort is possible though

Curaçao corporate law does not provide for any derivative suit mechanism (and neither do the laws of Aruba, St. Maarten and the BES-islands). This matter was first decided in the cases of Poot v. ABP, Hoge Raad (Dutch Supreme Court) 2 December 1994, NJ 1995, 288, and Constance et al. v. Noro et al., Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie van de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba (Joint Court of Appeal of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) 13 December 1994, SJD 1994, 498.

However, a shareholder suffering derivative damage may commence proceedings against, for instance, …
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02
Sep 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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DUTIES OF A MANAGING DIRECTOR OF A DUTCH CARIBBEAN NV OR BV

Acting in the best interests of the company

Although not explicitly provided for in Book 2 of the Civil Codes of Curacao, St. Maarten and the BES-islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) (“CC”), it is considered a general rule of 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.

The management …
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10
Aug 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES AND GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Speech by Karel Frielink at the 8th Biennial Conference of the Caribbean Ombudsman Association

Ladies and Gentlemen!

First of all, I would like to thank the Curaçao Ombudsman, Alba Martijn, for inviting me to speak at this conference. Unfortunately, she will leave office in about a month. She did an excellent job, and her professionalism, dedication and impartiality leave a lasting legacy. Thank you Alba!

I have only half an hour, so I won’t travel back in time to the early days of mankind. I just start with Plato (427 – 347 B.C.E.). You may have heard of this philosopher. …
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26
May 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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LIABILITY OF THE SILENT PARTNER

The Supreme Court can give its opinion

I will first describe Dutch law in this respect. A limited partnership (commanditaire vennootschap: ‘CV’) is a contractual, legal relationship between two or more persons or legal entities to carry on a business under a joint name, whereby the aim is to gain proprietary benefits on the basis of their contributions. The CV (with multiple managing partners) is therefore a special form of the general partnership (vennootschap onder firma: ‘VOF’). This special status consists of the business operations also being carried on at the expense of one or more silent partners (limited partners), …
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24
Apr 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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SUPREME COURT U-TURN

The bankruptcy of a general partnership (‘VOF’) does not automatically mean the bankruptcy of its partners

For many decades the rule had to be adhered to that the bankruptcy of a general partnership (vennootschap onder firma: ‘VOF’) also meant the bankruptcy of the individual partners (Supreme Court 14 April 1927, NJ 1927, page 725).

However, in a ruling of 6 February 2015 the Supreme Court made a U-turn and held that there is no (or no longer) any justification for this connection (ECLI:NL:HR:2015:251). The Supreme Court has justified its new position as follows:

3.4.1 A VOF has no corporate personality. …
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16
Apr 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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QUASI DIRECTOR OR JUST THE BOSS?

This depends on the facts

If a legal entity (an NV or BV comes to mind) becomes bankrupt, any director (according to its Articles) becomes jointly and severally liable for the deficit of the bankrupt’s estate if it is apparent that there has been improper management and it is plausible that this was a major cause of the bankruptcy.

The Act provides that a person who (during the relevant period) determined or co-determined the policy of the legal entity as if he was a director is considered equivalent to a director. This is also called a quasi director. For instance, …
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11
Apr 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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LIABILITY OF A NEW PARTNER

Supreme Court creates clarity

The National Ordinance on Partnerships (Landsverordening personenvennootschappen) of Curacao (1 January 2012) and St. Maarten (1 April 2014) mentions two main variants of the partnership: the public partnership and the silent partnership. The public partnership is a partnership (i) for carrying on a profession or business or performing professional or business acts, which (ii) partnership acts externally in a way which is clearly recognizable by third parties (iii) under a name it uses as such (Section 7:801 subsection 1 of the Civil Code).

The partners of a public partnership are jointly and severally liable for the …
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04
Apr 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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LIABILITY OF A TRUST DIRECTOR

No lighter liability system

The National Ordinance on the supervision of Trust Service Providers (Landsverordening toezicht trustwezen) does not provide anything with regard to the liability of trust offices (a.k.a. management services companies) or their representatives acting as a director under the Articles (of Association) of a legal entity (for instance a company limited by shares (‘NV‘), private company with limited liability (‘BV‘) or foundation). The question is whether this liability is governed by the usual rules in this area. Because the trust office as a director of a legal entity usually fulfills a different role from a director – …
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28
Mar 2015
CATEGORY

Corporate

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REVOCATION OF A RESOLUTION TO DISSOLVE A LEGAL ENTITY

The Supreme Court formulated stringent conditions

On 9 December 2014 the Dutch Supreme Court pronounced a ruling (ECLI:NL:HR:2014:3677; JOR 2015/33) which is also relevant to the law of the Caribbean (Is)lands of the Kingdom. On the basis of that ruling the following requirements are imposed on the revocation of a resolution to dissolve a legal entity:

  • the resolution to revoke must comply with the requirements which generally apply to a resolution of the general meeting of shareholders (read: the same requirements as the ones which apply to the resolution to dissolve);
  • the revocation shall not impair the legal certainty requirements or …
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  • 25
    Mar 2015
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    Corporate

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    HERROEPING ONTBINDINGSBESLUIT RECHTSPERSOON

    De Hoge Raad heeft stringente voorwaarden geformuleerd

    De Hoge Raad heeft op 9 december 2014 een arrest gewezen (ECLI:NL:HR:2014:3677; JOR 2015/33) dat ook voor het recht van de Caribische (ei)landen van het Koninkrijk relevant is. Op grond van die uitspraak worden de volgende eisen aan herroeping van een ontbindingsbesluit gesteld:

  • het herroepingsbesluit moet voldoen aan de vereisten die in het algemeen gelden voor een besluit van de algemene vergadering van de rechtspersoon (lees: dezelfde vereisten als gelden voor het ontbindingsbesluit);
  • de herroeping mag geen afbreuk doen aan de vereisten van rechtszekerheid of de rechten en belangen van derden (lees: niemand …
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  • 17
    Mar 2015
    CATEGORY

    Corporate

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    AANSPRAKELIJKHEID TRUSTBESTUURDER

    Geen verlicht aansprakelijkheidsregime

    De Landsverordening toezicht trustwezen zegt niets over de aansprakelijkheid van trustkantoren of vertegenwoordigers daarvan die als statutair bestuurder van een rechtspersoon (bijvoorbeeld een NV, BV of stichting) optreden. De vraag is of deze aansprakelijkheid door de gebruikelijke regels op dit vlak wordt beheerst. Omdat het trustkantoor als bestuurder van een rechtspersoon doorgaans een andere rol vervult dan een bestuurder die – zelfstandig – strategische beslissingen neemt, rijst de vraag of voor een trustkantoor mogelijk een lichter aansprakelijkheidsregime geldt.

    Recent heeft het Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie een vonnis gewezen naar het recht van St. Maarten waar het betreft …
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    16
    Mar 2015
    CATEGORY

    Corporate

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