International Law

THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS OF LARGE DUTCH CARIBBEAN COMPANIES

By Karel.Frielink

Stricter rules for large companies

Under Netherlands Antilles law the annual accounts of limited liability companies which do not qualify as so called large companies, need to be prepared in accordance with generally accepted standards and shall provide sufficient insight as to enable a sound judgment to be formed regarding the assets and the results and, to the extent the nature of the annual accounts so permit, regarding the solvency and liquidity of the company (article 2:116 (4) Netherlands Antilles Civil Code). This is comparable to the principles of good business practice (goed koopmansgebruik).

For large companies the legislator chose a tighter annual accounts regime. Annual accounts for large companies need to be prepared in accordance with the principles of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and shall provide such insight as to enable a sound judgment to be formed regarding the assets and results and, insofar as the nature of the annual accounts so permit, on the solvency and liquidity of the company.

In order to qualify as a large company under Netherlands Antilles corporate law a company has to meet certain criteria. One of the requirements that has to be met is that it has at least twenty employees in the Netherlands Antilles who all work at least twenty man-days, at any time in the period one month prior to and one month after the date of the balance sheet, pursuant to an employment contract with the company, a group company of the company, a temporary employment agency or a similar institution.

Karel Frielink
Attorney (Lawyer) / Partner

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Full post as published by Karel's Legal Blog on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).