Identify your customer
By Hilbert Haar The Financial Action Task Force aims to inspire countries to take adequate measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In March 2022 the organization updated its recommendations. Countries that fail to satisfy the FATF run the risk of being blacklisted to the detriment of their economy. One of the key recommendations More...
Does the goal justify the means?
By Hilbert Haar The jungle of rules facing foreign entrepreneurs in St. Maarten has a long history. The fear of a European invasion after the Second World War inspired local legislators to establish already in More...
A missed opportunity
By Hilbert Haar Maybe it is just me but I was severely scratching my head when I read the questions in the survey launched by Prime Minister Jacobs as part of her electoral reform campaign. I mean, if you intend More...
When opportunity knocks
By Hilbert Haar Our story about the Pott rum factory shows that it is possible to have foreign investors come to the island that offer meaningful employment to locals. But the complaint is more often than not, More...
Political games
By Hilbert Haar If you have no arguments left or if you fear that the outcome of a debate is not beneficial to your own interests, accusing others of playing political games is always a good idea. At least, that More...
Stone-cold fact-finding
By Hilbert Haar It took me some time straighten this out in my mind, but I think I’ve got it now. Imagine that you manage an organization that needs to rent office space. Lots of office space. Let’s say, 47 More...
High power-distance
By Hilbert Haar A recent article by Malcolm Gladwell about his experiences at a Mennonite wedding in Southern Ontario sheds a bright light on the way people interact with each other (or not). His thoughts about More...
Publisher Terrance Rey: “Greed knows no boundaries”
PHILIPSBURG — The essence of the problems with government-owned companies is “political meddling,” Terrance Rey, the publisher of StMaartenNews.com recently said on Wendell Moore’s radio program People’s More...
Follow the money
By Hilbert Haar What more is there to say about the conflict between real estate developer Zebec and the harbor? What more is there to say about the role former politician Theo Heyliger played in this sordid story? More...
Doing a Good Thing Wrong Is No Good
~ Op-Ed on Media Policy by Ralph Cantave ~ On Tuesday, May 3, the world celebrated International Press Freedom Day, which inspired this article along with the recent press developments on our island. It is an honor More...
