THE HAGUE - Raymond Gradus believes that the Netherlands should be given more powers to tackle corruption in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The outgoing chairman of the Board of Financial Supervision (CFT) says this in an interview with the Dutch financial newspaper Financieel Dagblad.
In his view, the islands are too small for an effective anti-corruption policy. Gradus hopes that the Netherlands will look at which tasks are assigned to the Kingdom. As an example, he gives the Integrity Chamber on Sint Maarten.
This anti-corruption institute was a condition of the Netherlands for sending hundreds of millions for the reconstruction after Hurricane Irma in 2017. According to the regulator, certain independence is necessary to tackle corruption.
They are persistent processes. Partly because of culture, and partly because of the limited scale of the countries. If part of the responsibilities is transferred to the Kingdom, it will be better for the functioning of the economy and society, says Gradus.
In doing so, the chairman points to Defense and the supervision of the budget, which is already at the kingdom level. As far as he is concerned, this should also apply to integrity questions.
According to Gradus, the role of the Board of Financial Supervision is indeed appreciated on the islands and the institute is not as controversial on the islands as is sometimes thought. People understand very well that the CFT — which includes not only someone from the Netherlands, but also people from the countries there — is necessary to keep an eye on the finances.