Deposit guarantee

It is a regulatory scheme that guarantees bank balances up to a maximum of $10,000. We activate the scheme if a bank fails. It covers banks licensed for the Caribbean Netherlands. The register of licensed banks is always up to date. 

Nothing. You do not need to register or sign up for the deposit guarantee, which is a free scheme. 

You can check this on the page Which banks? If in doubt, ask your own bank whether your money is protected by the deposit guarantee. The register of banks licensed for the Caribbean Netherlands is always up to date.  

We, De Nederlandsche Bank, administer the deposit guarantee. 

The deposit guarantee applies to residents of the Caribbean Netherlands. When the deposit guarantee is activated, we verify this in the personal records databases of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba. 

We consider you to be a resident for the purposes of the deposit guarantee if you are a resident of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba and registered there in the municipal personal records database, not marked as having emigrated or died. In that case, you will as a rule hold a sedula. This also means that if you ask to be struck from the personal records database when moving away from Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba, you are no longer covered by the deposit guarantee. 

Yes, it also applies to bank balances of companies having their registered offices in the Caribbean Netherlands, subject to a few exceptions. Please refer to the factsheet.

Yes, the it also covers underage children, as it applies per person per bank, irrespective of age.

The deposit guarantee guarantees deposits – that is, amounts in payment and savings accounts and time deposits – with banks licensed for the Caribbean Netherlands.

The deposit guarantee guarantees a maximum amount of $10,000 per person per bank, irrespective of the number of accounts you hold. Any accrued interest is compensated until the day of the bank's bankruptcy. 

If your account is not only in your name but also in someone else's name – such a a joint account – you will in most cases be reimbursed a proportionate share each. 

For example: If the amount in your joint account is $20,000, you will both receive $10,000. If have several accounts, the maximum amount of $10,000 applies to the sum of the balances in your accounts. 

We check in the bankrupt bank's accounting records whether a bank account is covered by the deposit guarantee. We use the exchange rate of the day on which we activated the deposit guarantee for the bank.

We do not deduct a debt you owe to the bank from the compensation you receive. 

Suppose you have a personal loan of $5,000 and a savings deposit of $10,000. If your bank goes bankrupt, you will be reimbursed $10,000. You can ask the liquidator what happens to your debt of $5,000. 

Based on the maximum amount of $10,000, around 91% of account holders will get all of their money back. This is comparable to what applies to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This means that the guarantee complies with the international standards prescribed by the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). 

The guarantee applies per person, per bank. We would advise you to spread your money over several banks if you have more than $10,000. 

If a bank goes bankrupt, the law requires us to activate the deposit guarantee within 21 days of the bank being unable to repay the money in customers' accounts. After we activate the deposit guarantee for the failed bank's customers, we will publish this in the local press, on our website and in the Government Gazette (Staatscourant). For more information, please also read the answer to the question How will I get compensation? 

1. If a bank can no longer repay the money in customers' accounts, even in the foreseeable future. From that moment, we have 21 days to decide whether to activate the deposit guarantee. 
2. After a court ruling preventing customers from accessing their bank accounts. The bankruptcy of a bank is an example of such a ruling. 

After we activate the deposit guarantee, we will publish this in the local press, on our website and in the Government Gazette (Staatscourant), telling you how to claim your compensation. In most cases we will open an office on the islands where the failed bank operates. You can visit this office to ask questions and claim your compensation (in Papiamentu, Dutch and English). 

After we have triggered the Deposit Guarantee, you have one year to submit your claim. After one year, we will handle your claim only if you can prove that the delay was not your fault. 

Once we have received your claim, we will check: 

• whether you are a resident of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba 

• whether you have an account with the failed bank 
• whether the account is covered by the deposit guarantee 
• the amount in the account 

We first consult the failed bank's accounting records. If we cannot find out whether you have an account, we will ask you for additional information.

As soon as possible, but in any case within three months of the date of your claim. 

If you have a joint account, you will in most cases be reimbursed a proportional part each, and you must each claim your compensation. 

The decision we take is  governed by the Administrative Justice (BES Islands) Act (Wet administratieve rechtspraak BES). If you disagree with our decision, there are several things you can do. 

• You can appeal to the Court of First Instance of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. 
• Before you do so, you may want to consider submitting a notice of objection to us. Should you disagree with our decision on your objection, you can still appeal to the Court of First Instance. This step is not obligatory, so you can also appeal directly to the Court of First Instance. 
• You can appeal from the Court's decision to the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. 

Coverage under the deposit guarantee is free of charge for bank customers. The total compensation amount will eventually be charged to the other banks protected under the deposit guarantee for the Caribbean Netherlands. They pay an annual contribution so that the money is available for payouts. To ensure that the customers of a failed bank can be compensated without delay, the Dutch government pre-finances these payouts. 

We have produced a brochure and a factsheet about the deposit guarantee for the Caribbean Netherlands.

Do you have a specific question for DNB about the protection by the deposit guarantee for the Caribbean Netherlands? Feel free to contact us (in Dutch or English). Just call us at +31 20 524 9111 on business days between 9:00 and 17:00 (Dutch time). Or email us at info@dnb.nl.