General Overview. Being on e of major offshore financial centers in the 70th of the XX century, Curaçao is considered to have lost its leadership position. It is believed that the jurisdiction was not able to adapt to changing international climate and did not manage to introduce new laws, regulations, as well as necessary products and services, as other offshore jurisdictions from the same region and worldwide managed to do. The necessity to translate all the official documents to Dutch significantly slows down business and operations, which is another drawback in comparison to other offshore countries. In 2009 the government has defined the jurisdiction’s development strategy as an international financial center. It has underlined the importance of being different from other offshore centers, and it wishes to be best known as meeting investors and clients’ needs from Latin America.

Holding Companies. Often Dutch corporations establish their holding entity in Curaçao due to tax incentives and a number of existent double taxation treaties.

Banks and Insurance Companies.  It is possible to obtain a license for managing offshore banking, offshore insurance and offshore trust business from Curaçao. The jurisdiction has good technical capabilities, but procedures may sometimes be long and expensive. The authorities are currently introducing a number of reforms, as well as they adjust local legislation to make it adhere to international standards.