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The Netherlands Antilies
Doing business in Dutch
Issue 8/December 17, 1990
The Netherlands Antilles are an autonomous part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. The five islands which together
make up the Antilles are Curagao, Bonaire, St. Martin, Sa
ba and St. Eustace. Curagao and Bonaire, together with
Aruba - which has had separate status within the Kingdom
since 1986 - constitute the Leeward Islands. The three
others are 900 kilometres to the north and together form
the Windward Islands. Two hundred thousand people live
on the Antilles. The official language is Dutch, but Papia
mento is spoken, among other languages.
Miami
ban Juan
St. Eustatius
Caribbean Sea
^^Cumc.io
Bonaire
Bogota
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
That holding company, together with local
consultants, looks for projects in which we
will participate. Generally speaking, these
are agribusiness projects.'
Trust company Van Hunen: The trust
company performs services for the organiz-
ation's customers, but also for third parties
who want to have a branch here or to incor-
porate their assets on Curagao in a sep
arate NV. In that way they can benefit by the
low tax rate in force here.' How is that
achieved? Van Hunen: 'You make yourcapi-
tal available to an NV which is set up here
and in which you yourself are a shareholder.
That NV is then given in trust to a trust com
pany. Trust literally means exactly what it
says. As Rabobank Trust Company we then
become managing director of the NV. The
cliënt only has to bring his money to us and
needn't do anything else. Of course we dis-
cuss with him what he wants to do with his
capital; put it on deposit, into securities or
something else. He can only do that in
other than the Antilles' local currency. That
generally means Dutch guilders or American
dollars. We are not allowed to do anything in
Antillean guilders, except make our local
payments, such as for water and electricity
bills and, of course, for salaries.'
The last ten years The Rabobank Group
has never been a leader in the trust busi
ness. Van Hunen: 'That is
because we are primarily
a credit cooperative and
because the foreign busi
ness has only really starled
developing in the last ten
years. Now, a high de-
mand for trust activities
has grown up, particularly
among customers aiming
at countries abroad. So a
trust network is now being
built up within the organiz-
ation. Meanwhile, branches
have been estabiished in
the Netherlands, Switzer-
land, the Far East, Luxem-
bourg and here on Cura
gao.'
Global trust A trust com
pany was also recently
formed in the Netherlands:
Rabobank Trustmaatschap
pij NV in Utrecht. 'As an
organization, we aim to
have 'global trust' as one of
our products', announces
Van Hunen. 'This means
that all over the world, in
every suitable branch, we
can offer services in the
trust field to customers of
our organization. So if
someone in Hong Kong
wants to have his assets
managed by Rabobank
elsewhere in the world,
that can be done in the
Netherlands, Luxembourg,
Switzerland or on Curagao,
and also in Singapore.
We have meanwhile re-
cruited experienced people
for that purpose here on
Curagao.'
Growth The total staff of
the Curagao office now
comprises sixteen employees. Van Hunen:
'That number will doublé within four years if
all the developments we expect take place.
We have advertised in the organizations' va-
cancies bulletin in the Netherlands. That
has resuited in two new employees. On Cu
ragao, seventeen days' holidays are nor-
mal, we give twenty. The holiday allowance,
end-of-year bonus, pension etcetera is hard-
ly known here except
among originally Dutch
companies and civil ser-
vants. We do give these,
and are therefore a
sought-after empioyer.
Nevertheless, it is still
difficult to find qualified
staff. Only 150,000
people live on the is-
land.'
Automation Van
Hunen: 'We are now in-
novating our systems in
order to be able to cope
with the expansion of
our business. We can
bring work in, but then
of course we have to be
ready for it operationally 9
speaking. That can't be
done without adequate Willemstad, the capital of Curagao.
administration. We are busy working on our
automation and have meanwhile built up a
pc network. The administration of the trust
company takes up a lot of time. You have to
keep records for every cliënt, make up the
balance sheet and profit and loss account,
organize a shareholders' meeting, write the
minutes for it, make the tax return, and so
on. If a cliënt calls in he wants to be in-
formed about the situation immediately.
Then one touch of a button must be enough
to enable the information to be retrieved.'
Van Hunen was in Luxembourg in Novem
ber. People from the other trust companies
were also there. 'We want to join forces in
one single system. Regardless of where
someone comes in, he must be able to get
the same picture of his financial position
everywhere at the touch of a button. That is
client-friendly', thinks Van Hunen.
Accommodation The business began
on Curagao in 1978 in premises in the cen-
tre of Willemstad. Van Hunen: 'We shared
these with the Van Lanschot Bank. They ex-
panded, and so did we. Then we left the
town in 1982 for other office accommoda
tion. With the twelve people on the staff at
that time we were very comfortable. Now,
with the expansion of both staff and equip-
ment, we are having problems. We are look
ing for new office accommodation. That is
very difficult here. Everyone is starting to
burst at the seams. The bank's policy is not
to build accommodation itself. We don't
want to get tied up in real estate situations
abroad. In addition, we have contacted the
local branch of the Robeco investment com
pany with which we have entered into a
cooperative arrangement in the Nether
lands. Maybe we can work out something
together. A Dutch project developer has
bought a plot of land and is going to build
eight office premises on it. Unfortunately,
the first one will not be ready until mid
1992. So for the time being we'll just have
to muddie on with the space we have avail
able. Once we have agreed on the building
plan, we will shortly sign the leasing con
tract and will literally have space to achieve
our expansion.'
