"Soab abides by the law"

April 08, 2011 5:48 AM

The Institution Government Accountant Bureau (Soab) is subjected to a lot of criticism lately on their functioning as supervisor corporate governance, and especially from the government after several advices had fallen on stony ground with the coalition parties.

However, according to Hans Mijnheer, member of the board of Soab, the institution performs their activities in good conscious and always acts in conformity with the Island Regulation Corporate Governance.

Soab-advices were the main theme in several speech-making matters during the past weeks. For instance, there was the advice from the institution to the government not to start with the massive dismissal of the members of Board of Directors (RvC’s) and boards of government entities. The Soab also gave a negative advice on the dismissal of CPA-director Marcelino ‘Chonky’ de Lannoy. On the other hand, there was a positive advice for the appointment of Rudolf Baetsen as chairman of the board of the communal Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten. In all of these cases, the Soab observed the guidelines as laid down in the law, according to Mijnheer. The Soab also clashed with the government when they gave a negative advice on the appointment of several commissioners with government NV’s.

According to Mijnheer, with the recommendation of possible commissioners and board members, the institution views the determined profiles of the government entities in question, or if these are not determined, the institution views the profiles drawn up by the Board of Governors. Raymond Faneyte, senior auditor with the Soab, adds that the central point with an advice is whether a person is capable of managing a company or supervising a company. “We further view a person’s CV and the received education. Vetting is not our responsibility nor do we view the conduct of a person in question. That is not our task, in conformity with the law on corporate governance.”

The advice from Soab against the dismissal of De Lannoy at harbor company CPA kicked up a lot of dust. The institution concluded there were no important objections to start the dismissal procedure. However, the cabinet had not agreed with this advice. In a letter from Premier Gerrit Schotte (MFK), this advice is described as ‘incomprehensible’. However, Mijnheer clarifies that also in this case, the Soab met the requirements as laid down in the law. “Our advice follows on the dismissal decision that we received. According to the government, there was a question of a lack of confidence. However, from the dismissal decision we received and which we also tested, we concluded there were no important reasons to start a dismissal procedure.”

The government brushed the advice from Soab aside. In conformity with the Law on Corporate Governance, the government could deviate from advices from the supervisor corporate governance. However, the government must motivate why they deviate from the supervisor’s advice. The advice from Soab in this case as well as in other cases falling under the Law on Corporate Governance, can be found on the website of the institution. The same applies for the reactions from the government on the Soab advices. The law requires that this information is made public. The website from Soab is www.soab.an

There was considerable commotion on the advice from Soab regarding the recommendations of RvC-members of the communal Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten. The institution had given a positive advice, but many people had comments on the past of the persons in question. Mijnheer emphasizes that Soab was requested to give an advice in this case despite the fact that the Central Bank does not fall under the Law on Corporate Governance. “With this advice, we only viewed the CV and the received education of the person in question.

I repeat, vetting is not our task, nor is any other work carried out by the intelligence service.”

The Soab was subjected to a lot of criticism lately from politicians, in particular from the coalition parties. The MFK party-chairman in the States certainly lashed out at the Soab yesterday. He accused the institution of presenting ‘unilateral, unbalanced and even scandalous advices’. Mijnheer and Faneyte point out that nobody had approached them despite this criticism from the politicians. “What do they mean by scandalous advice, they ask themselves. We cannot do anything with this criticism. We observe that which the law outlines.”

(Source: National Newspaper Amigoe)

8 April 2011