WILLEMSTAD--Businesses and professionals subject to Curaçao’s anti-money laundering rules could face significantly heavier financial penalties for failing to comply with requirements governing unusual transactions, with the maximum administrative fine increased from 100,000 guilders to one million guilders.

GREAT BAY--The St. Maarten Association for Development Environment (SMADE) has announced its newly elected Board and outlined a 2026 agenda focused on increasing opportunities for local companies and professionals to participate in major public and private development projects across St. Maarten. The new leadership and priorities were introduced following the association’s recent General Meeting.

GREAT BAY--Parents attending the inaugural Back-to-School Expo on Sunday, August 9, at the Aleeze Convention Center will have an opportunity to do more than prepare their children academically for the new school year. They will also be able to take a practical step toward their children’s financial future by opening a student bank account on the spot. The event is being organised by Xtratight Entertainment under the leadership of Bertaux Fleming.

GREAT BAY--Merchants on Backstreet are calling on government to extend the placement of communal garbage bins beyond the Boardwalk and Frontstreet and to provide an update on the remaining bins ordered to be placed specifically in the Philipsburg area.

MARIGOT--President of the Cultural Commission Valerie Damasseau and Cultural Department Director Claudine Lake Mingau are inviting the public to participate in the next phase of the process to create a territorial flag representing the identity, culture and heritage of Saint-Martin.

AMSTERDAM--Journalist, author and AFRO Magazine founder Marvin Hokstam Baapoure has released his debut novel, Het Punt., a historical thriller that combines a murder investigation with questions of racism, identity, colonial history and the lasting influence of the past.