The
Internet has yet to have much direct
impact on the conduct of offshore business
from Aruba, but as with all other aspects
of business activity, no one can doubt
that there will be an impact, that it
will be soon, and that it will be substantial.
Aruba
Offshore Activities
The natural bonding of the Internet and
Offshore stems from the fact that both,
of their nature, manage to avoid tax.
Businesses which can operate on the Internet
without, so to speak, touching ground
in a high-tax jurisdiction will naturally
migrate to offshore jurisdictions; while
business that already have offshore existence
will find it highly convenient to be able
to use the Internet to trade with their
high-tax customers without having to make
a landing in their countries.
As
a major offshore jurisdiction with more
than ten thousand of offshore enterprises
already installed, including many trading
companies, it is only a matter of time
before Aruba becomes a centre of e-commerce
activity. The island's geographical location,
its good telecommunications links and
sophisticated business infrastructure
add to the inevitability of an e-future
for Aruba.
In
September, 2005, First Atlantic Commerce
Ltd (FAC), a leading Bermuda-based e-Commerce
payment solutions provider, introduced
an innovative solution that offers companies
the ability to apply for merchant accounts
in both Europe and the Netherlands Antilles,
including Aruba, leveraging a single Dutch
corporate structure.
FAC’s
Kingdom of the Netherlands solution enables
merchants acquiring through FAC’s partner
banks in Europe and/or the Netherlands
Antilles or both - creating a dual acquiring
presence in the Latin America Caribbean
Region and the European Union.
“To
meet with the Card Associations cross
border compliance all merchants are required
to establish a corporate presence in the
same jurisdiction as their settlement
bank,” said FAC CEO Andrea Wilson. “Merchants
who establish a Dutch Company in the Netherlands
Antilles (Curacao, Sint Maarten or Aruba)
are then eligible to apply for merchant
accounts in both The Netherlands and the
Netherlands Antilles leveraging one single
Dutch corporate structure.”
FAC’s
solution provides merchants with the opportunity
to offer their customers a number of secure
payment choices including US Dollars,
Euros, Pounds Sterling, and Swiss Francs
with the merchant having the choice of
settlement jurisdictions within the LACR
and/or Europe.
FAC’s
Dutch Kingdom banking solution automatically
protects eligible merchants with Verified
By VISA and MasterCard SecureCode™ on
qualifying VISA and MasterCard transactions.
Based on the Card Associations’ 3-D Secure
™ technology, cGate®SecureVerify provides
merchants with protection from fraudulent
transactions, unauthorized payments and
chargeback liability shift.
FAC’s banking partners in Europe and the
Netherlands Antilles offer full Internet
banking services enabling merchants to
easily and securely manage their accounts.
First Atlantic Commerce is headquartered
in Bermuda, and was established in 1998
to create secure card based payment solutions
for e-businesses, FAC provides powerful
technology designed to work with most
merchant platforms, including Microsoft®,
UNIX, and LINUX platforms. FAC’s cGate®
technology offers state-of-the-art service,
flexibility and security to adapt to many
business and bank acquirer requirements.
Business solutions such as 3-D Secure™
Payer Authentication, Virtual Corporations
and offshore multi-currency payment solutions
are available in the LACR and Europe.
For information about the impact of e-commerce
on a number of the main offshore activities
which take place in the Aruba, click
on a link below to go to our specialist
E-commerce site Offshore-e-com.com
Sales and Distribution of Physical Products
Sales
and Distribution of Digital Products
Banking
and Financial Services (including Investment
Funds)
Corporate
Support Functions
To
see an analysis of the current state of
legal and tax issues surrounding offshore
e-commerce, click
here.
BACK
TO TOP
Aruba Case Studies
This section will contain case studies
of e-commerce solutions applied to offshore
business activities carried out from Aruba.To
be kept updated as to our progress click
here.
BACK
TO TOP
- To
receive monthly updates on new features
in lowtax.net and tax-news.com
just enter your e-mail address below:
