Guide to Doing Business
in St. Maarten

Role of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten

The most important objectives of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (the ”Central Bank”) are to maintain the external stability of the Netherlands Antillean Guilder (ANG) and to promote the efficient functioning of the financial system in the countries of St. Maarten and Curaçao.

Main tasks 

As stipulated in the Central Bank Charter for Curaçao and St. Maarten (Centrale Bank-statuut voor Curaçao en Sint Maarten), the main tasks of the Central Bank are to supervise the financial sector in both Curaçao and St. Maarten. This supervision includes: (i) monetary supervision; (ii) business economic supervision;  and (iii) supervision of integrity. In doing so the Central Bank has the tasks and powers to: conduct the monetary policy in Curaçao and St. Maarten;

  • Supervise banking and credit institutions in Curaçao and St. Maarten;
  • Issue paper money in the countries of Curaçao and St. Maarten;
  • Manage the foreign exchange reserves of Curaçao and St. Maarten;
  • Act as the government’s treasurer by receiving and making payments from and to the public; and
  • Advise the governments of Curaçao and St. Maarten and on financial and economic matters.

Supervision of financial institutions

The Central Bank is entrusted with the prudential supervision of credit institutions, insurance companies and other institutional investors (pension funds, insurance brokers), money transfer companies, investment companies and their administrators, trust service providers  and the Dutch Securities Exchange (DCSX) based on the National Ordinance on the Supervision of Banking and Credit Institutions (Landsverordening toezicht bank- en kredietwezen), National Ordinance containing regulations concerning the supervision of the Insurance industry (Landsverordening houdende regelen inzake het Toezicht op het Verzekeringsbedrijf), National Ordinance on the Supervision of Money Transfer Companies (Landsverordening toezicht geldtransactiebedrijven), National Ordinance on the Supervision of Investment Institutions and Administrators (Landsverordening regelende het toezicht op beleggingsinstellingen en administrateurs), respectively the National Ordinance on the Supervision of Trust Service Providers (Landsverordening toezicht trustwezen), National Ordinance on the Supervision of Securities Exchanges (Landsverordening toezicht effectenbeurzen), National Ordinance on Foreign Exchange Transactions (Landsverordening houdende regels betreffende het deviezenverkeer). Furthermore, the Central Bank monitors compliance by the credit institutions with regulations on the detection and deterrence of money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT regulations, including the FATF recommendations) and regulations on the disclosure of information to the public.