Guide to Doing Business
in St. Eustatius
Role of De Nederlandsche Bank
As per the constitutional changes of 10 October 2010 the BES islands became public entities within the kingdom of the Netherlands. Consequently the Dutch minister of finance is responsible for regulating the financial markets in the BES islands. Financial supervision is carried out by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten or AFM). The DNB is responsible for safeguarding financial stability, while the AFM is responsible for supervising the operation of the financial markets.
Main tasks
De Nederlandsche Bank is entrusted with the prudential supervision of credit institutions, insurance companies, investment institutions and trust companies. The main tasks of De Nederlandsche Bank are to:
- Conduct the monetary policy;
- Supervise banking and credit institutions;
- Act as the banker of the government; and
- Advise the government on financial and economic matters.
Supervision of financial institutions
As per 1 July 2012 the Financial Markets (BES islands) Act (Wet financiële marken BES or Wfm BES) and the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (BES islands) (Prevention) Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme or Wwft BES) are effective in the BES islands.