On Thursday 26 November, VANEPS and The Galan Group organized the annual Day of the Supervisory Board in Curaçao. During this meeting in the auditorium of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten, they looked back at ten years of Civil Code Book 2. In addition, four experts discussed the need, bottlenecks and future of supervision on financial institutions in the Dutch Caribbean during a discussion round with the participants.
The author of ‘our’ book 2, prof. mr. Peter van Schilfgaarde, was put in the limelight in honor of his eightieth birthday. In his speech, he discussed the development of corporate law in Curaçao. He mentioned that there are several areas in which the Dutch Caribbean islands have chosen their own path and are even ahead of the Netherlands. A good example is the new law on partnerships. With increasing attention for the right of investigation and directors’ and officers’ liability, supervision currently is a worldwide hype. After Peter van Schilfgaarde, prof. mr. Gerard van Solinge presented more information on the right of investigation. He discussed the key points, objectives and various phases of an investigation procedure, which take place relatively often in Curaçao. As a result, the question was asked by the audience whether the Joint Court has adequate capacity for this purpose. According to Van Solinge, we do not have to worry about that.
Rogier van den Heuvel, lawyer and senior associate with VANEPS, discussed corporate governance with state-owned companies. He explained how book 2 of the Civil Code has provided a quality regulatory framework for corporate governance in Curaçao. State-owned companies can be considered regular companies in most respects. As a result, directors of state-owned companies in general suffice with keeping in mind the normal corporate interest.
Frank Kunneman, senior partner with VANEPS and specialized in corporate governance, introduced a number of questions regarding supervision and regulation that are hot topics for the financial sector at the moment. His presentation was the basis for a lively sofa discussion with moderator Steven Martina (Guardian Group Fatum), Charlene Alberto (Vidanova), Leo Rigaud (SFT Bank) and Ian de Silva (MCB). They discussed issues such as reliability and expertise of supervisors, and the increasing number of rules the financial sector has to comply with.
The Day of the Supervisory Board was concluded festively. Peter van Schilfgaarde, who celebrates his eightieth birthday in January, was addressed by Gerard van Solinge. In this manner, prof. Van Schilfgaarde was thanked for all the work he has done in the Dutch Caribbean in the past twenty years in order to arrive at the current, modern Curaçao corporate law.
