Minister of Finance addresses Parliament on CBCS governance and nomination process

GREAT BAY--Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs returned to Parliament on Thursday, January 8, 2026, as the urgent Public Meeting continued on issues surrounding the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS). The meeting, which was adjourned on November 5, 2025, reconvened on Thursday for further deliberations and questions from Members of Parliament.

During her appearance, Minister Gumbs provided additional clarification on her actions regarding the chairmanship of the CBCS Supervisory Board, including the government’s earlier approval to proceed with a conditional nomination. She stressed that the Council of Ministers did not appoint anyone, and that the approval was intended only to allow discussions with her counterpart in Curaçao, subject to full compliance with the CBCS Charter.

“The government did not appoint a chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank, nor was any joint nomination made,” the Minister said. “The only action taken was a Council of Ministers approval to proceed with a conditional nomination, subject to full compliance with the Bank Charter.”

Minister Gumbs said she chose to keep the Council of Ministers informed “out of respect” and due to the sensitivity of the matter, even though legal advice indicated the issue did not require Council of Ministers submission. She acknowledged that the CBCS Charter does not reference a “conditional nomination,” but explained that the conditional element reflected the Council’s blessing to move forward provided certain requirements were met.

The Minister also addressed questions regarding the source of legal advice used by government ministers, explaining that initial legal guidance typically comes from a minister’s cabinet, supported by the Department of Legal Affairs and the government’s legal counsel. She added that ministers can also seek external legal advice through their consultant budgets when necessary.

On the question of transparency and the sharing of documents, Minister Gumbs said she is willing to submit her presentation and provide Parliament with relevant information to clarify the debate. However, she said certain documents cannot be shared at this stage due to constitutional and legal restrictions, including protections related to privacy, the interests of the country and the Kingdom, and the need to safeguard ongoing cooperation with Curaçao during a process that remains in preparation.

Minister Gumbs stated that St. Maarten’s interest in the chairmanship was also tied to a longstanding rotation arrangement. She said the chair position traditionally alternates between Curaçao and St. Maarten and emphasized that it was St. Maarten’s turn to fill the post.

She further noted that the CBCS Supervisory Board had not provided any candidates to her for the chairmanship, despite correspondence indicating a strong pool had been identified. According to the Minister, the board’s January 31, 2025, letter did not include names and, as of August 2025 when she moved forward with the conditional nomination, no candidate had been submitted and no updates had been received.

Minister Gumbs said she intends to continue discussions with her new counterpart in Curaçao early in 2026 to pursue workable solutions and advance appointments for both the chair and board members. She also reiterated her call for updates to the CBCS Charter to address gaps in procedures and timelines, particularly in situations where no recommendation is submitted by the supervisory board.

“The Charter does not stipulate a specific time frame within which the Supervisory Board is required to submit a recommendation,” she said, adding that this lack of clarity contributed to the current governance challenges and should be corrected to protect the credibility and stability of the institution.

(𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘢ç𝘢𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯 (𝘊𝘉𝘊𝘚), 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴’ 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥.)

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