How do we help clients manage the balance between regulatory risk and business specific risk in terms of AML?

The international financial sector (IFS) of Curaçao is a premier and high quality, globally competitive financial centre that has invested heavily in establishing a robust regulatory regime with supervision that meets or exceeds international standards.

In recent years Curaçao has moved to become predominantly a mid-shore jurisdiction, favouring more transparency, compliance and substance over traditional offshore structures based primarily on favourable tax structures. Much of the financial infrastructure in Curaçao has been setup to cater to structures that seek not only a favourable tax climate, but mostly to provide insight and transparency into property and money flows of the respective companies and private clients.

The specific needs of clients are carefully and thoroughly assessed and evaluated to provide customised and compliant solutions through the most fitting structures that are tailored around the principles of a risk-based approach. This approach is anchored on current laws and regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing that aim to provide a better, less timely and a more cost-effective alternative to the normative approach.

Service providers can therefore allocate resources more effectively on high-risk clients and meet compliance requirements with greater efficiency. This, in turn, creates greater latitude and flexibility for professional service providers to dedicate the desired and adequate attention to the risk assessment of specific client profiles, country, product or transaction types. This risk assessment is used to describe how the risks are either eliminated or mitigated pursuant to the money-laundering legislation.