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| Additional information |
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| Amicorp Curacao N.V. |
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Profile:
Since 1939, Curaçao, located in the Netherlands Antilles, has been a major international financial centre. It is one of the preferred locations in the Caribbean for international tax-planning and financial transactions. The Netherlands Antilles is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Its legal system is based on civil law and is similar in form to the legal structure of The Netherlands. The Netherlands Antilles is known for having stable political and legal climates, a superior business infrastructure, flexibility and professionalism. Netherlands Antilles law does not have statutory provisions with regard to the nationality of registrars, transfer agents, investment managers and paying agents. This provides a great degree of flexibility in setting up offshore structures and mutual funds. The tax regime in the Netherlands Antilles was recently restructured to make it fully compliant with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Commission. These Associations discourage the use of countries that provide preferential income tax treatment to international businesses. The revised tax regime sets The Netherlands Antilles apart from such jurisdictions located in other parts of the Caribbean. As a result, The Netherlands Antilles is a very attractive location for finance structures and other geographically mobile activities, without qualifying as a harmful tax jurisdiction. |
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Overview:
With a legal system based on civil law and similar to the legal structure of the Netherlands, notary deeds, contracts, powers of attorney and other legal documents can be drawn up and legalized in Dutch, English and Spanish.
Setting Curaçao apart from other tax haven jurisdictions in the Caribbean is the recently restructured tax regime. Curaçao is thus fully compliant with the requirements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Commission, making it an attractive, white-listed jurisdiction. This presents significant possibilities for holding, finance, royalty, trading and investment structures and other geographically mobile activities.
Amicorp Curaçao provides all Amicorp Group products and services, including:
Establishing, managing and administering companies, partnerships and foundations in international structures;
Setting up and administering investment funds, including a complete range of services for various types of funds;
Listing and trading entities on the Dutch Caribbean Securities Exchange.
Typical structures used for international tax planning include:
The Curaçao private foundation, an excellent estate planning and asset protection vehicle;
The exempt company, a limited liability company for investment, finance and licensing activities;
The transparent company, a limited liability company that can be fiscally treated as a partnership where shareholders will be taxed for their share in the result of the partnership with no tax at company level;
E-zone companies, an attractive tax regime for e-commerce (2% profit tax);
Tonnage tax regime for ships, vessels and floating platforms; the taxable amount is a lump sum based on the tonnage of the floating object.
With the Dutch Caribbean Securities Exchange (DCSX), Curaçao has a cost-efficient and accessible listing and trading facility on an internationally recognized securities exchange (licensed by the Central Bank).
The main advantages of the Curaçao corporate regime include:
No withholding taxes on any outbound dividend, interest or royalty payments to private individuals or legal entities anywhere in the world;
No stamp duties or capital taxes;
Participation exemptions;
No minimum holding period requirement for the participation exemption;
No Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) rule;
No thin capitalization rules.
For more information regarding structuring through Curaçao and Amicorp Curaçao services, please see the applicable Amicorp brochure.
Languages spoken: Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian |
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History:
The Amicorp Group started business on October 19th, 1992 in Curaçao, the Netherlands Antilles. The following year operations expanded to Tortola, the British Virgin Islands ('BVI') and so providing a broader variety of services through this jurisdiction. Having an initial market aim toward clients in Latin America, Amicorp underwent rapid growth throughout its initial years of operation.
In 1995, Amicorp acquired its first multinational clients following significant marketing efforts in both Europe and Latin America. This contributed to the continual rapid growth of Amicorp. In this same year, Amicorp contributed to drafting new offshore legislation for the jurisdiction of Belize, confirming recognition of Amicorp as sophisticated financial service provider.
Another milestone for Amicorp was achieved in the year of 1997, when its new office building was acquired in Curaçao. As a licensed Netherlands Antilles management company, new synergies provided Amicorp a continued platform to absorb the robust expansion of clients and services. The following year, operations in the BVI were expanded with a full office staff and the office in Curaçao received ISO 9002 certification. This was the very first certification of its kind awarded to a financial service company in the Netherlands Antilles. In 1999, Amicorp´s BVI office received a similar certification, also being the first financial services company of its kind to be awarded this external recognition in the BVI.
In 1999, Amicorp established itself as the first foreign service provider of company and trust management services in Denmark. This was due to Amicorp reaction to the change in tax laws in Denmark. This timely decision provided Amicorp a lead in the market for Danish holding companies. Also in 1999, Amicorp expanded its operations opening offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil and London, The United Kingdom. Both offices were opened in relation to its expanding clientele in Brazil.
Reinforcing its market position in Europe, offices in Luxembourg and Switzerland were added in 2001 to Amicorp´s list of world-wide offices. To further expand operations, a successful takeover was established in Denmark of a smaller service provider that added to Amicorp's market presence in Denmark. In that same year, operations began in Spain under the name Amicorp de España S.L.
In 2002, Amicorp focused on expanding its global financial services through the development of both new financial products and new markets. Amicorp laid foundations for continued global growth with the opening of several additional offices located on different continents. Realization began with the start of operations in both Sweden and Singapore in 2003. Being present in various geographical locations across the globe, Amicorp's head office was relocated from Curaçao to Barcelona, Spain, to best globally optimize the coordination of all offices working in different time zones.
In 2004 Amicorp optimized the efficiency throughout the now global organization through additional new internal networking systems. Amicorp added to its presence Asia in 2005, following the founding of offices throughout Western, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, South America and Central America. Amicorp demonstrated its core strength of developing business in emerging markets through the development of the offices in developing regions of the global economy. 2005 was also the year when Amicorp relocated its administrative operations to a new office in Bangalore, India. This office became the fastest growing office in the history of the Company.
Recent office openings in China, Chile and New Zealand fell in step with the continuing high rate of growth of Amicorp's turnover and global clientele. In 2006, the Amicorp's offices totalled twenty-two globally. The charts present insights into the development of Amicorp over just the last eight years. |
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