LITIGATION IS A SKILLED PROFESSION (part 1)
Everything boils down to knowledge and experience
Litigation appears to be simple. For instance you have a monetary claim on someone (a private person or an enterprise) and you ask the court to determine in a judgment that you indeed have this claim. And you ask the court that the counterparty be ordered to pay the claim. And once you have this judgment, you can enforce it with the assistance of a bailiff (deurwaarder). This means for instance seizing a trade stock and selling it publicly in an auction. Simple, yes? Why then is litigation a discipline for which you …
Read the rest »
CHAMBERS AND PARTNERS QUALITY RANKINGS 2013
Spigt Dutch Caribbean still a number 1 firm
International publisher Chambers and Partners published its global ranking of law firms ‘Chambers Global’ on 14 March 2013. In its survey Chambers Global 2013, Chambers and Partners ranks Spigt Dutch Caribbean as Leading Firm.
Chambers in its survey:
This corporate heavyweight continues to attract plaudits for its wide-ranging expertise, and is particularly commended for its strength in tax and litigation work. The 13-strong team advises prestigious local and international clients on securities, …
Read the rest »
SYMPOSIUM ON 35 YEARS OF THE CURACAO BAR ASSOCIATION (16 NOVEMBER 2012)
Presentation by Karel Frielink – President (part 2)
Civil Litigation Law should be better
So now I will deal with the subject of this symposium. I begin straight away with a provoking statement: Our Civil Litigation Law should be better. This goes further than it ‘could’ be better. However, we shouldn’t only think about the question of how the law should be improved but also about the question of whether or not judges and advocates (attorneys, lawyers) are operating optimally and whether adjustments to the system can contribute to a better operation and to a better administration of justice. And …
Read the rest »
SYMPOSIUM ON 35 YEARS OF THE CURACAO BAR ASSOCIATION (16 NOVEMBER 2012)
Presentation by Karel Frielink – President (part 1)
Ladies and gentlemen!
Today the symposium on the “Seven years of the new Code of Civil Procedure” is taking place in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Curacao Bar Association. The 35-year existence of the Bar is an occasion for celebration which is quite rightly paid attention to by focusing on an important subject: litigation law. I will begin by telling you something about the early period of the Bar. After this and anticipating the discussions this afternoon, I will broach two subjects of litigation law which are eligible for improvement. …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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 …
Read the rest »
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. …
Read the rest »