Aspects that make a jurisdiction attractive:

Tax legislation: a favorable tax regime is a given fact for any offshore jurisdiction. But to what extent it is favorable, will differ from country to country. Therefore knowing the type of tax planning that you desire, will help to determine the best jurisdiction for your structure. More...

Corporate legislation: the need for good and flexible corporate laws is often underestimated. It forms an integral part of international corporate structuring.

Quality of professionals: the need to be able to rely on professional advisers (like lawyers, notaries, tax advisers, accountants) of good quality and education.

Quality of public sector: different types of government licenses (director's license, foreign exchange, corporate register) may have to be obtained. This should be kept to a minimum: both public rules and the officers who execute them should be efficient and kept to a minimum.

Ability to adapt languages: since trust is an international business, it is most important that a trust service provider masters different languages. Communication with clients, other service providers in different countries should go flawless.

Reputation and political stability: some basic knowledge of the jurisdiction's political history will help you making an estimate of future stability.

Business history: some countries have a long-lasting history in providing financial services, in others it may be a new industry; in some countries efficiency may be the rule, whereas in others there is a culture of bureaucracy.

Geographical aspects: some offshore jurisdictions have the advantage of being located in tropical paradises; but some are within the hurricane belt; other jurisdictions may be too far away or in an unconvenient time-zone.

The new supervisory regulations prescribe strict compliance rules and mandatory audits of compliance policy and performance of each trust company on an annual basis.

The clients of trust companies can only benefit from the intensified supervision. The business conduct of the trust companies is under strict control which should generally lead to better quality of services rendered. Also, the government supervision helps to keep ill-intended clients away from the services provided by the trust companies.

Aspects that make the Netherlands Antilles an attractive jurisdiction

Its tailor-made tax legislation for different types of tax structures : funds, e-commerce, investments, finance, holding etc. Book 2 of the civil code of the Netherlands Antilles, which deals with corporate legislation, was recently introduced (2002). It offers a reliable, international-oriented and flexible legislation for companies and foundations. As a result of its history as a financial services industry, Curaçao has excellent lawyers, accountants, notaries and fiscal advisers who are usually educated in the Netherlands. There is vast competition in each of these areas of professional services, which ensures good quality, service, professionalism and reasonable prices.