Services
We provide all necessary legal assistance to financial institutions, leasing companies and aircraft operators in relation to the process of registration of aircraft and requesting an air operating certificate (AOC) in Aruba. The services we provide depend on the needs of the client and the particulars of a transaction. Our services usually consist of one or more of the following activities:
- advising on the legal structure and assisting with the incorporation of an Aruban special purpose vehicle;
- advising you on the perfection and the enforcement mechanisms of Aruban law securities, including mortgage, pledge on aircraft and pledge on shares;
- completing jurisdictional questionnaires;
- overseeing the process to obtain a foreign exchange license by the Central Bank;
- supervising the process to obtain a business and directors’ license by the Minister of Economic Affaires through the intervention of the High Commissioner of Aruba;
- monitoring the obtaining of the transparent status of the special purpose vehicle, requested by a local trust service provider;
- in case of an AOC application, assisting with the application of an AOC in all the five (5) phases of application, being the (i) pre-application phase, (ii) formal application phase, (iii) document review phase, (iv) compliance evaluation phase and (v) verification phase;
- review and advise on an Aruban law deed of mortgage over the Aircraft in English, provided by a civil law notary, discussing any comments the transaction parties may have and liaising with the civil law notary to have those comments processed;
- arranging for translations of the deed of mortgage to Dutch;
- monitoring the registration of the Aircraft in the nationality register by the Operator/owner/lessee;
- registration of aircraft in the public register for the registration of aircraft (openbaar register voor teboekgestelling van luchtvaartuigen), which is a so called ‘title register’ (“Title Register”) and requesting the Court of First Instance Aruba for permission thereto;
- overseeing the filing of the mortgage in the Title Register by the civil law notary and request for an official extract pertaining thereto;
- recording the special purpose vehicle as a Transacting User Entity with the International Registry in Ireland;
- acting as the Professional User Entity in connection with the registration of various international interest in the International Registry;
- reviewing transaction documents, governed by foreign law and advising on the enforceability under Aruban law. These documents usually includes security and lease agreements;
- drafting an Aruban law deed of pledge over the shares in the special purpose vehicle;
- drafting or reviewing the necessary corporate action documents to be executed by the Aruban special purpose vehicle regarding the entry into certain transaction documents for the purposes of rendering a legal opinion;
- assisting in logistic process regarding execution and legalization of powers of attorney for the execution of the deed of mortgage;
- issuing a closing and a post closing legal opinion in respect of Aruban law;
- liaising with the Aruban civil law notary, the Aruban trust service provider, the Court, the Title Register, the Operator and the financial institution and its advisors.
For Tax purposes the shareholder of the Aruban special purpose company (if applicable) must be a foreign (legal) person registered outside of Aruba. Our firm can offer a one stop shop service if Curaçao is chosen as the jurisdiction to locate the shareholder. AMDC Law is also located in Curaçao and can assist in setting up the legal structure and can also render legal opinion(s) in respect of Curaçao law.
