BOD Financial Group, the main shareholder of Banco del Orinoco NV, with the majority support of savers, request international arbitration to protect the bank's assets amounting to USD $ 1,165 million.
WILLEMSTAD - Representatives of the BOD Financial Group notified that they have initiated, with the support of more than 70% of savers, an international arbitration process in their capacity as owners of the Bank of Orinoco NV, since the Government of Curaçao, and in particular the Bank Central de Curaçao and Sint Maarten, would have taken a series of discriminatory and irrational measures against the Banco del Orinoco NV, including issuing orders without legal basis for the transfer of their investments to a local Bank on the island. These are extraordinary measures to prevent development of the activities of the Banco del Orinoco.
However, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, with perfect knowledge of the start of the arbitration process and knowing that the Bank of the Orinoco has sufficient operational funds and its own capital, in excess of the deposits of its clients, of more than 400 millions of US dollars, has asked the Courts of Curaçao to declare the bank the Orinoco bankrupt. The Central Bank also deliberately omitted to inform the shareholders and legal representatives of the Bank of the Orinoco and the BOD Financial Group of the bankruptcy request, to obtain a decision behind the backs of the depositors and of the shareholders based on false information.
The officials of the Central Bank, headed by Jose Jardim, K. Kleist, Swanide Snel and D. Daal, would have hidden information from the Court, in particular a report from the firm Ernst and Young ordered by the same Central Bank of Curaçao, where it is certified that the assets of Banco del Orinoco NV amount to USD 1,165,000,0000, as of January 31, 2019.
In addition, by September 5, 2019, at the time the questioned emergency decision requested by the Central Bank, USD 55,230.00.00 was available in the cash accounts of the Banco del Orinoco NV. After more than 1 year supervising the institution, they had full knowledge of that, they also deliberately failed to provide this important information to the Court. Some unconfirmed information has indicated that the funds available were used by the Central Bank of Curaçao, as soon as it took over the accounts, in the payment of expensive law firms and advisors, among them Allen Overy and Van Eps Kunneman, among others , diverting money that should have been used for the operation of the bank, as well as for the payment of salaries of the 30+ employees.
The same officials of the Central Bank have refused to cancel the salaries of employees of the Banco del Orinoco NV, and kept the doors of the institution closed to the public and any online or telephone contact inactive, one month after taking the absolute control of the Bank.
Given these circumstances and despite the smear campaign that has been undertaken through the media and social networks against the BOD Financial Group, more than 70% of depositors and customers have spoken to request that their funds be paid and transferred to another institution of the BOD Financial Group, fearing that the Curaçaoauthorities will seize their funds or distract them, as has been the case with other processes carried out by the Central Bank in the past.
The treaty, signed between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, provides this mechanism to guarantee the reciprocal protection of investments that the nationals of these countries, which is mainly used to protect the investments of customers of the Banco del Orinoco NV, whom are all Venezuelan citizens.
Recent history
At the beginning of September, the Board of Directors of Banco del Orinoco N.V, located in Curaçao, decided to liquidate the financial entity, due to the alerts regarding money laundering in the region and the instability of the financial sector in the province of Córdoba. Days later, this natural liquidation process was interrupted by an emergency measure, requested from the courts, by the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten, an organization that requested to be the entity in charge of the liquidation process.
The Board of Directors of Banco del Orinoco N.V explained that this measure was unnecessary and, far from helping, would delay the process of liquidation of funds to savers who were scheduled to take place in 60 days.
