Approval for corporate governance

WILLEMSTAD — The Island Council approved the island’s regulation corporate governance this afternoon. This new island territorial law regulates instructions for government entities with the aim to guarantee good governance with government companies and government institutes. The island’s regulation was not only supported by the entire coalition, but also by the DP-fraction, although DP-leader Norbert George found that more could have been realized.

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The new law contains rules for the procedures for the transfer and acquisition of shares in companies in which the government is involved with, determines guidelines for the dividend policy of companies in which they are involved with, regulates procedures and demands on appointing and dismissing administrators of companies and institutes, and determines instructions on the advancement of good governance within such companies and institutes.

The law also contains a Code Corporate Governance, where the rules for the relation between the government and its government entities in conformity with international standards and the regulation of the supervision of such are laid down. The law also includes the possibility to appoint a corporate governance advisor who will assist the Board of Governors with solicited and unsolicited advice on the compliance of the Code of Corporate Governance.
The establishment of the institute Bureau Supervision and Standardizing Government Entities (SBTNO), which assists the government with advice in the field of good corporate governance, was also up for discussion during this morning’s Council meeting. Aforementioned institute will succeed the current privatization institute StIP. In this connection, the Island Council had to consider a proposal that would arrange that the shares of governmental plcs, which are currently subsumed under StIP, would soon be subsumed under the island territory.
There was considerable criticism from the opposition parties on the proposals discussed during the Council debate. For example, Gregory Damoen (FK) did not find the law democratic as the creation of the function of corporate governance advisor would subvert the authority of the Island Council. According to Nelson Pierre (NPA), the law was the last convulsion of the neo liberalism in the Antilles. Pierre pointed out that only on Curaçao, does one try to keep the politics at a distance while international governments intervene in the entire market. MAN-leader Charles Cooper wondered why the Board of Governors would need to establish new institutes continuously to affect the power of the Island Council. Cooper warned his colleagues for ‘new monsters’ which the Island Council would not be able to control. It was remarkable that nobody from the coalition had taken the floor during the Council debate.
When it was time to vote, the entire coalition supported all three of the enactments. The DP voted for the island’s regulation corporate governance. In his voting motivation, George stated that something was better than nothing, and he hopes that the law could be adjusted in the future. The rest of the opposition parties voted against, as they were not convinced by the Board of Governors’ arguments.