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Published On: Sat, Jun 20th, 2020

CBCS provides information about salary bank president

CBCS-Leila-Matroos-Lasten-Bob-Traa-Jose-Jardim-Antilliaans-Dagblad

WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG — Although it is very unusual for individual salary information to be discussed in public, the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) has decided to be as transparent as possible without violating the privacy rights of those involved, given the reports regarding the remuneration of the top management and the related turmoil this has caused in Curacao. The Supervisory Board hopes that the following explanation will put the recent reports in the right perspective.

The Supervisory Board of The Bank, which was appointed in 2017, in recruiting new directors for the CBCS, commissioned a benchmark survey of the employment conditions. An independent expert agency conducted the survey.

The study aimed to assess both the primary and secondary employment terms of employment and benefits to determine the extent to which the existing remuneration structure at the CBCS matched the remuneration structure of comparable positions at other financial supervisors and the financial sector, both locally and in the region.

The Supervisory Board subsequently developed a new remuneration structure at the end of 2017 based on the results of that investigation. It has also been stipulated that if during the recruitment process, it proves challenging to find a candidate director for a salary within the set bandwidth, by means of exception, the maximum of the compensation table can be increased by a fixed maximum percentage.

In general, it is essential to note that the total salary costs of the Executive Board of the CBCS have been reduced by no less than 39% annually over the past two years. In selecting the Executive Board members, the Supervisory Board also focused on obtaining the most suitable candidates. Each of the board members has been selected for the task assigned to him/her on the board according to his or her knowledge and experience. When selecting a president, the SB looks for a highly qualified candidate with extensive international experience and an extensive and relevant international network.

The necessity of temporarily recruiting a candidate with international experience and network is the current challenge facing the CBCS. In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, this addition to the board of the CBCS will create the desired balance, including modernizing the CBCS (which has already been initiated) and strengthening the image and the confidence of local and international stakeholders.

When determining the salary of a director, the salary that the director earned in his previous position and any additional costs involved in the (temporary) emigration to a foreign country are taken into consideration. For this reason, the so-called expat scheme was established in Curaçao, and it has been applied for years within the local international financial sector as a necessary scheme for attracting international financial experts. As a result, the total costs for temporary scarce foreign employees can be somewhat held in check. The CBCS also makes use of this scheme under the provisions of the law.

Therefore, the offering to the prospective president has been determined within the margins of the established remuneration structure and by taking into account the weight and responsibilities of a Central Bank Executive Board.

Willemstad, June 19, 2020
CENTRAL BANK OF CURAÇAO AND SAINT MAARTEN

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Photo caption: File photo of the former CBCS Bank President Bob Traa (center) and vice-presidents Leila Matroos-Lasten and José Jardim. Photo Antilliaans Dagblad.

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