WILLEMSTAD - Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania, faced strong criticism during a briefing from the Curaçao Trust Offices Union Foundation in Parliament. The draft of the new National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) is far from complete, making it entirely unclear which stakeholders have responsibility and to what extent.
The draft of the LOK does not address the FATF Recommendations (FATF develops international standards and recommendations for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, ed.) at all and how the new law aligns with other laws and regulations. "It's a report of two hundred and ninety pages, but the Ministry of Finance keeps indicating that due to the Mutual Evaluation (MeVal), the draft must now be quickly adopted. That's an excuse," said the Curaçao Trust Offices Union Foundation.
Currently, there is no effective collaboration between the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the FIU, the Trust Offices, notaries, and other stakeholders. Little to no consultation has taken place. Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania, recently organized an information session. However, the meeting was said to consist mainly of one-way communication, and questions from the public were poorly or unsatisfactorily answered.
Only a small part of the stakeholders reportedly participated in discussions with Silvania behind closed doors. A significant part of the sector, especially the smaller trust offices, was initially not invited to the talks. Eventually, they were invited to the minister's office after insistence and could express their concerns about the draft version of the LOK.
The online gaming sector feels left out of the composition of the new legislation to date. According to them, the uncertainty they feel could have been prevented if Silvania had regularly consulted with the trust offices.
The Curaçao Trust Offices Union Foundation advocates for trust offices and represents their interests. The foundation claims to do this by sharing information, pooling resources, and developing joint positions and recommendations.