CBCS responds officially to inquiries surrounding Chairman appointment process

GREAT BAY--The Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) clarified on Tuesday evening that the Minister of Finance has no formal mandate in the process of recommending a chairman, which under Article 25 of the Bank Charter must originate from the Supervisory Board with a five-sixths majority.

The Board noted that it twice recommended candidates for the chairman’s position, but both became unavailable during the appointment process, forcing a restart. While the Board reiterated the established procedure and welcomed the chance to discuss nominations directly with the Minister of Finance, that opportunity was not taken up.

Additionally, the CBCS Supervisory Board stressed that filling all board seats is just as important as appointing a chair. Several nominees cleared screening since February 2024 without objections, and the Board urged their immediate formal appointment to ensure the institution can function effectively.

For clarity, the this statement was in direct response to questions posed by 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴' 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦 on Thursday, September 18. In the interest of transparency, the CBCS response will now be published verbatim, without additional journalistic formatting or interpretation.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐁𝐂𝐒 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞:

The Supervisory Board of Directors acknowledges the recent media articles in Sint Maarten regarding the alleged appointment, nomination or recommendation of Mr. Jairo Bloem as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors.

As an independent institution, it is important for us to refrain from engaging in public discussions that are in the political sphere. However, given the importance of the subject matter and the potential impact of the discussion on the CBCS and the financial sector of Sint Maarten and Curacao, we believe it is imperative to provide clarity on this matter as we received specific questions from the media.

The procedure surrounding the appointment of the members of the supervisory board of directors and the chairman is outline in article 25 of the Bank Charter. The Chair of the Supervisory Board shall be jointly appointed and dismissed by the Countries by national decree, the appointment taking place on the joint nomination of the Ministers, which nomination must be based on a recommendation adopted by a fivesixths majority of the Supervisory Board. Of the remaining six members, three shall be appointed on the nomination of each Country: each nomination shall be made by that Country’s Minister and shall comprise three persons, the nomination being based on a recommendation by the Supervisory Board, and the appointments shall be made jointly by the Countries by national decree. Appointments under these provisions shall be for a term of four years and members shall be eligible for immediate reappointment once only.

In exceptional circumstances the Countries may, by motivated national decree, suspend or dismiss members appointed under the foregoing provision prior to the expiry of their term. Suspended or retiring members shall not participate in the selection for the nomination of their replacement. In the event of ordinary retirement, nomination and appointment as described above shall take place no later than three months prior to the date of retirement; in the event of extraordinary retirement as referred to above, nomination and appointment shall take place within three months after the date of retirement.

Should the Ministers fail to make a nomination, or should the Countries fail to appoint a member within three months of a nomination, only the President of the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba shall temporarily appoint a member from that nomination, who shall serve until the Countries effect the appointment. Members of the Supervisory Board must be expert, of integrity and independent, in accordance with the requirements set out in the profiles contained in the regulations referred to below.

The current delays in the appointment process can be attributed in part to the need for legislative amendments in both Curacao and Sint Maarten. These amendments were necessary to classify the positions on the Supervisory Board as positions of trust, thereby ensuring that all members would undergo a comprehensive screening process. Following the completion of this legislative adjustment in both countries, six nominees, of which four are temporarily appointed members, successfully underwent national security screenings in both jurisdictions. This process concluded in the first quarter of 2024, at which point the Ministers were formally informed of the results.

Regarding the chairman position the Supervisory Board twice recommended a candidate adopted by a fivesixths majority of the Supervisory Board to the Ministers of Finance. Both candidates unfortunately were found, during the appointment process, to have become unavailable for this role. This compelled the Supervisory Board to restart the entire process of formulating a recommendation. Given the importance of this position, this must of course be carried out with all necessary safeguards which of course takes time.

At the restart of the process, we reiterated the established appointment process to the Ministers of Finance, which emphasizes the importance of recommendations from the Supervisory Board itself. While there is no formal mandate for the Minister in the recommendation process, we welcomed the opportunity to discuss this matter directly, however, this opportunity was not taken up.

The Supervisory Board would like to note that the appointment of all the members of the Supervisory Board is equally significant from a governance perspective. The nominated candidates, who have passed their screening successfully since February 2024 and for which there are no further objections to proceed with their formal appointment should be appointed as soon as possible to ensure the effective functioning of our institution.

The Supervisory Board of Directors remains committed to maintaining an open and positive dialogue with both Ministers in the best interest of our institution. We are actively progressing with the search for a chairman and are confident that this careful and meticulous process will lead us to a capable candidate who can uphold the integrity and values of our institution. This careful approach is necessary to ensure that we select individuals who will act in the best interest of the CBCS and maintain the independence required by our Charter.

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