November 2010 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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Bizz News Dutch Caribbean islands get new status The legal status of the five Caribbean islands which make up the Netherlands Antilles changed from October 10, five years after the process to draw up a new relationship between the islands and the Netherlands began. In the new set up, Curacao (population 142,000) and Sint Maarten (population 37,000) become independent countries with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This means the two countries will have more independence in terms of law making and government but that the Netherlands will keep an eye on their finances and remain responsible for defence and foreign policy. Aruba has had this status since 1986. BES islands The other three islands, Bonaire (population 13,000), Sint Eustatius (2,900 inhabitants) and Saba (population 1,700) will have the status of independent local authorities within the Netherlands. They will be subject to Dutch law but can take a different standpoint on controversial issues such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. The changeover will also affect legal currency on the islands. Curacao and Sint Maarten will have their own currency, which will be linked to the US dollar. The three other islands will use US dollars. Dutch councils put €300m in professional football Dutch local authorities have invested €300m in football over the past five years through indirect subsidies. The investments are often made via sale and lease back constructions for stadiums and trainings pitches to avoid breaking the law on state support. Some councils give loan guarantees or sponsor shirts. Earlier Nos claimed very few of the local authorities actually monitor their club’s financial affairs, by requesting quarterly reports or a seat on the board. Meeting Representatives of 23 of the 33 Dutch towns and cities which are home to at least one professional football club held a meeting to discuss common strategy to deal with the financial problems facing the game. The KNVB football association expects a number of clubs to go bankrupt this year. In June, the association published a report saying just six of the 37 professional football clubs in the Netherlands are in good financial shape. Inflation rises slightly, still below EU average Inflation rose slightly to 1.6% in September, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. The rise, just 0.1 percentage point, is due to an increase in petrol prices. According to the harmonised European standard, inflation in the Netherlands is 1.4%, which is below the EU average of 1.8%. House sales fall by 10% in the third quarter The number of houses changing hands in the third quarter this year is down 10% on a year ago, the real estate agents association NVM said. At the beginning of this year, sales were rising again but uncertainties about mortgage tax relief and other factors have hit the market, the NVM said. Some 185,000 houses are currently on the market and around 60,000 have been for sale for over one year. Some 12% were put up for sale over two years ago. Dutch seat on the IMF board in danger The Netherlands may lose its seat on the International Monetary Fund board. Caretaker finance minister Jan Kees de Jager has been unable to persuade other members to agree to changes in the board make up, meaning the Netherlands’ seat is in doubt. The IMF wants to increase the influence of developing economies on the board. Europe has agreed to give up two of its nine seats while the US wants to increase this to three. Germany, France and Britain have their own seats while the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Denmark represent groups of countries. Switzerland also has a chair. The Netherlands had hoped the smaller European countries would agree to rotate their seat with developing countries, but only Turkey, which is in Belgium’s group has agreed. Unlike the other European countries, the Netherlands does not represent an emerging market to rotate with, and this now makes it a likely candidate to lose its seat. De Jager expects the discussions to continue at the next G20 summit in November. The Netherlands is not a member of G20 and it is also still unclear if an invitation to take part as an observer will be forthcoming. 16
Bizz News German firm interested in former Organon unit in Oss A German company is looking at taking over the former Organon research facility in Oss, slated for closure by Merck. Merck announced plans to shut down the R&D department and one production line in July, with the loss of 2,175 jobs. Merck, the Dutch government and unions are currently looking into alternative plans to the closure. If no new deal is worked out by the end of the year, the closures will go ahead. In addition to the un-named German firm, a number of other companies have expressed interest in the plant. Agis loses independence within Achmea health group Health insurance company Agis is to lose its independence within the giant Achmea group, two years earlier than planned. Achmea took over Agis in 2008 and said the company would remain independent for at least five years. Last month, Achmea announced it is taking over the Friesland health insurance company with a similar commitment. Agis and Achmea have 4.7 million policyholders between them. The Friesland will add a further 500,000. Tax office has new secret bank account list The tax office has a new list of people with secret bank accounts in Switzerland given to it by the French tax office, caretaker finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told MPs. The information, on a cd-rom, is currently being analysed and appears to contain names, tax numbers, phone numbers and account details, the minister said. It is not clear how many names are on the cd, but all face fines of up to 300% of the amount they have parked in Switzerland. Crucell shareholders call for EGM, want higher bid The Van Herk Groep, which owns just over 10% of biotechnology firm Crucell, has called on the company to set up an extraordinary shareholders meeting to discuss the takeover bid made last month by Johnson & Johnson. Van Herk says the offer of €24.75 is too low and would like to see at least €27.50 on the table. ‘The fact that only one year after the first deal J&J wants to increase its stake to 100% indicates that the partnership evidently suits J&J or J&J sees something that we do not see,’ Van Herk said in a statement. ‘They expect Crucell to probably be worth a lot more in two years’ time. Conference Agenda 1-2 1-2 1-3 2-3 2-3 6 6-8 6-8 7 7-8 9-10 9-10 9-12 12-15 December Legal Strategy Forum Sydney 5 th Annual Real Estate Investment China Summit 2010 Beijing Automotive Logistics India Chennai Microfinance Hong Kong Hong Kong Advanced Strategic Supply Chain Management Jakarta Legal Considerations for Wealth Managers Singapore Hedge Funds World Australia 2010 Sydney 8 th Annual BioPharma India Convention 2010 Mumbai The World in 2011 Hong Kong Nuclear Energy Asia 2010 Hong Kong Identifying and Structuring M&A Deals SEA 2010 Singapore 2010 China Clean Coal Conference Beijing 2 nd Palm Oil Summit Bali 5 th Annual Security for Energy Infrastructure Summit Abu Dhabi Log on to www.conferencebay.com for more information on these and other events 17
Page 1: Association of Dutch Businessmen in
Page 4 and 5: Contents Vol. 20 / No. 9 / Nov 2010
Page 6 and 7: Events shuttle and an overnight tra
Page 8 and 9: Business Innovative addition to Sin
Page 10 and 11: Business Doctrine of Ants and Ostri
Page 12 and 13: ASSOCIATION News Extraordinary Gene
Page 14 and 15: Extra MANDARIN FOR EXPATS IN SINGAP
Page 16 and 17: Interview Interview with Abel Dutil
Page 20 and 21: know your tax What is it about tran
Page 22: Lifestyle Angkor Wat Half Marathon
Page 25 and 26: Embassy and ADb News Public Holiday
Page 27 and 28: ADB Christmas Dinner and Dance Plea

November 2010 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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