Structures for doing business

The mandatory regulations with regard to legal entities under private law (such as the foundation and the (private) limited liability company) which can be used for doing business on the BES islands, are contained in Book 2 of the Civil Code. The legal entities explicitly regulated are:

• The foundation (stichting);
• The private foundation (stichting particulier fonds);
• The association (vereniging);
• The cooperation (coöperatie);
• The mutual guarantee company (onderlinge waarborgmaatschappij);
• The public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) (N.V.); and
• The private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap) (B.V.).

Besides the sole proprietorship(eenmanszaak), the public limited liability company and the private limited liability company are the most common (formal) structures for the conduct of business on the BES islands. The BES law partnerships are the regular Partnership (Maatschap), the general partnership (Vennootschap onder Firma) and the limited partnership (Commanditaire Vennootschap).