Agreement reached on CFT,
debt relief later this year
BELAIR--The discussion on the Financial Supervisory Committee CFT has been concluded and hopefully the debt relief can start in June or July, Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage said after the meeting of the Kingdom Political Steering Group at the Belair Community Centre on Tuesday.
A final understanding on the CFT was reached after agreements had been reached on how to regulate the corporate governance and the borrowing authority of the new entities.
De Jongh-Elhage congratulated all delegations on the result of the meeting. To St. Maarten she said it wasn’t easy, but parties needed to continue and she was happy with the conclusions reached. “Although we have discussions, the friendship will remain. That’s the role of being part of the Kingdom,” she said.
State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten acknowledged that there had been hard discussions, but said good results had been booked. “We have an agreement on the consensus Kingdom law on the Financial Supervision; only the articles of the explanatory memorandum on the law need editing. I will see to it that the draft law finds its way quickly to the Kingdom Council of Ministers and the Advisory Council,” she said.
Bijleveld-Schouten said it was important for the Netherlands that in-depth discussions had been held about corporate governance. “With what has been stated in the Consensus Kingdom Law, we have come very far. We have made agreements about the role of the CFT in this matter,” she said.
It was agreed that the new entities would regulate the procedures of disposing of or acquiring participation, guidelines for a policy on dividends, procedures and demands concerning the appointment and retirement of administrators.
Civil servants will discuss these topics February 6-8 based on internationally accepted norms, and joint conclusions will be drawn.
The CFT will have an advisory role in matters concerning corporate governance. The new regulations for corporate governance must go into effect on August 1. If this is not the case, the CFT will advise the Kingdom Council of Ministers to hand down on corporate governance.
Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams said it had been agreed in yesterday’s meeting that corporate governance would not be incorporated in the CFT, but would be regulated by the respective entities.
Another point of discussion was the borrowing authority of the new entities. An understanding was reached on the conditions.
A level playing field will be created in the Consensus Kingdom law. The CFT will give advice to the Kingdom Council of Ministers on private loans to entities wanting to enter.
Regarding public loans, the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles will create a level playing field and compare the several borrowing conditions. The Dutch Government will have a standard bid for public loans against a percentage equal to that of Dutch government loans.
Bijleveld-Schouten said government’s policy concerning public and private loans would directly affect the citizens. Therefore, it is important that the public has a view on decision-making concerning this matter.
The Consensus Kingdom Law also has a possibility for the new entities to appeal any decision of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
