Willemstad / Philipsburg – Recently www.koninkrijksrelaties.nu published an article with the headline “The Netherlands has little faith in Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten” in which a letter from the Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra to the House of Representatives is mentioned about the lack of confidence from the Dutch government and DNB in the CBCS. Concerns about the integrity and reliability of the CBCS are not new, since these years were also raised earlier by the DNB. The Executive Board of the CBCS shares the concerns of both the Minister and the DNB on certain points. After all, when the new management took office in November 2017, she found a situation where improvements had to be made in various areas to guarantee the integrity and credibility of the institute. Over the past 18 months, the Executive Board has taken various measures that should lead to the restoration of confidence in the CBCS as a supervisory institution. The CBCS has, among other things, determined a new strategic direction with the aim of redirecting the Bank to an efficient and effective organization in the execution of its core tasks. A reorganization of the organizational structure is also ongoing. A start has also been made on rewriting the bank statute. With regard to its supervisory duties, the CBCS has further strengthened its supervisory sector internally by bringing in experience and expertise from the DNB, while decisive action has been taken in various problem cases since the appointment of this board. Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the cooperation between the DNB and the CBCS in the field of, for example, information exchange and provision has been established. Formally, there is a tripartite meeting between supervisors three (3) times a year in which the aim is to standardize supervision within the Kingdom. In the field of integrity, a working group exists in which specific information on this subject is exchanged. The Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) within the kingdom also form part of this working group, in order to provide input from their point of view, for example, in the area of money laundering constructions.
In addition to these formal contacts, there is regular contact between supervisors in the informal sphere about the entities that are jointly supervised in order to strengthen supervision and keep our financial system healthy. With the appointment of a new president, the CBCS expects a special strengthening of the Board of Directors to continue the professionalization of the institute. The Management Board relies on its professional and dedicated employees to implement these change processes. The effect of these measures is taking its time and, given their structural and radical nature, is expected to become increasingly visible over time.
CENTRAL BANK OF CURACAO AND SAINT MAARTEN