Financial Services

THE CENTRAL BANK OF CURAÇAO AND SINT MAARTEN The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (previously the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles) is the central bank

of the former Netherlands Antilles. It is responsible for issuing the Netherlands Antillean guilder.

The Bank’s most important objectives are to maintain the external stability of the NAf. and to promote the efficient functioning of the financial system in the Countries Curacao and St. Maarten. To realize these objectives, the Bank, as supervisory authority, has frequently recurred to credit control measures and/or to changing the discount rate. The functions of the Bank, explicitly summed up in the Bank Charter, are:

First, the Bank is the only institution entitled by law to issue paper money in the Countries Curacao and St. Maarten. The Bank also is charged with the circulation of coins.

Second, the Bank supervises banking and credit institutions to guarantee depositors and other creditors funds at banking and credit institutions in particular and the soundness of the financial sector in general.

Third, the Bank manages the foreign exchange reserves of the Netherlands Antilles, which includes regulating of the transfer of payments between residents and nonresidents of the Countries Curacao and St. Maarten.

Finally, the Bank acts as the government’s treasurer by receiving and making payments from and to the public through the tax collector’s accounts at the Central Bank. To strengthen the Central Bank’s independent position visà-vis the government, the Bank Charter limits the monetary financing of budget deficits to 10% of the central government’s revenues in the previous year. This limitation must be seen in the context of an overdraft facility to meet liquidity deficits of the public sector that result from seasonal variations in government revenues.

MONETARY AND BANKING SUPERVISION

Two of the Bank’s basic tasks are to control the amount of

liquid assets in circulation (monetary supervision), and to act as the supervisory body for credit and banking institutions operating in the Countries Curacao and St. Maarten (prudential supervision). Furthermore, the Bank is one of the government’s main advisors on financial and economic affairs. The monetary policy of the “Centrale Bank van Curacao en Sint Maarten” during the last two decades has been geared toward promoting a stable value of the NAf with respect to the US dollar. Since 1971 the official NAf/$ rate of 1.79

has been firmly supported by the monetary authorities. The Bank’s main reason for pegging the NAf to the US dollar is that over the years, more than 60% of its international trade relations have been conducted with the United States or in

US dollars. To maintain the dollar standard, the Bank must

ensure a sufficient supply of foreign exchange. To manage the foreign exchange reserves of the Netherlands Antilles, the Bank in the past has exerted control over the credit extended by commercial banks.

The prudential supervision of banking and credit institutions is aimed at controlling the soundness of the financial system in the Countries Curacao and St. Maarten and at safeguarding the deposits of creditors at commercial banks. This supervision is pursued mainly through the Bank’s analysis of the solvency and liquidity development of banking and credit institutions.

Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten

P.O. Box 193, WJA Nisbeth Road, Pondfill, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-3520 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-4307

RBC ROYAL BANK

CA Cannegieter Street 24, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-5908 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-5964 Windward Side, Saba Tel: (599) 416-2454 | Fax: (599) 416-2452

FIRST CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK LTD

Backstreet 38, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-3511 / 2491 / 2567 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-4531 Card Services: Tel: (Collect 0210) 001-246-431-5490 | Fax 001-246-228-3996 Windwarde Side, Saba: Tel: (599) 416-2216 | Fax: (599) 416-2475 Oranjestad, St. Eustatius: Tel: (599) 318-2392 | Fax: (599) 318-2734

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REPUBLIC BANK PHILIPSBURG

Back Street #62, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-2262 / 3317 Transit Number: 71605

THE WINDWARD ISLANDS BANK LTD

Main Office, Clem Labega Square, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-2313 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-4761 Bush Road Branch, Bush Road, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-7950 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-7953 Orange Grove Branch, Cole Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 544-5490 | Fax: 1 (721) 544-5491 Airport Road Branch, Simpson Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 545-3063 | Fax: 1 (721) 545-2130 Loan Center, Bush Road, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-9537 / 9536 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-9258 Insurance Services, Clem Labega Square, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-0000 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-5613 Bankcard Services: Codville Webster Road 2, Office space 2, Philipsburg, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 542-3940 / 3422 | Fax: 1 (721) 542-3251 Investments Services Office, Airport Road, Simpson Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 545-3608 | Fax: 1 (721) 545-3589 Telebanking: 100 | 1 (721) 543-7969 (international) Emal: info@wib-bank.net Website: www.wib-bank.net

REPUBLIC BANK SIMPSON BAY

Simpson Bay Yacht Club, Simpson Bay, St. Maarten Email: republicbank.an@rfhl.com

BANQUE EUROPÉENNE DU CRÉDIT MUTUEL SINT MAARTEN - BECM BANK

Tamarind Plaza, Union Road #133, Cole Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 546-0609

ORCO BANK

Union Road #139 f, Union Plaza, Cole Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 544-4744 Fax: 1 (721) 544-4745 Email: info@orcobank.com

BANCO DI CARIBE

Airport Boulevard 15, Simpson Bay, St. Maarten Tel: 1 (721) 545-5002 Fax: 1 (721) 545-5036 Email: info@bancodicaribe.com Web: www.bancodicaribe.com