Gumbs draws line in the sand over CBCS Chair, tense meeting ends in deadlock

WILLEMSTAD-GREAT BAY--A high-level meeting in Curaçao between St. Maarten’s Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs and Curaçao’s Minister of Finance Charles Cooper reportedly ended without resolution after an apparent dispute over the chairmanship of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), according to reports circulating after the talks.

According to reports, the meeting was a continuation of a shareholders discussion initially set for December 10, 2025, but allegedly had to be postponed after Minister Cooper was in the Netherlands and was pulled away for other matters. The resumed meeting reportedly took place in Curaçao this week, with the composition of the CBCS Supervisory Board and the issue of the chairperson among the central agenda points.

It is said that the discussion became strained and heated when the matter of the CBCS chairmanship arose, with Ministers allegedly maintaining that St. Maarten should now hold the chair. Reports suggest that Minister Gumbs took the position that there had been an earlier understanding, dating back to a June 2024 discussion, that St. Maarten would be given the opportunity to claim the chairmanship.

That earlier understanding was allegedly based on what was described as a verbal agreement or “handshake” arrangement reached during prior discussions between Gumbs and former Minister of Finance from Curacao Javier Sylvania. Reports indicate that Minister Gumbs is said to have argued that she acted on the belief that St. Maarten had been given that opening, and that this reportedly guided her subsequent efforts to identify a suitable candidate.

According to the same reports, the disagreement centered on whether that prior understanding was ever valid or binding. It was allegedly at that point that the parties reached an impasse, with St. Maarten reportedly refusing to move on to other agenda items until the matter of the chairmanship was addressed.

Minister Gumbs allegedly declined to continue with the rest of the meeting agenda once it became clear that there was no immediate agreement on the chair. According to reports, she maintained that St. Maarten could not proceed with discussions on other issues while such a central governance matter remained unresolved.

A caucus was reportedly called during the meeting, during which current board members of the CBCS participants allegedly sought to persuade Minister Gumbs to proceed with the remaining agenda points, including matters related to the supervisory board. However, Gumbs position did not shift, and the demand that the chairmanship issue be settled first reportedly remained unchanged.

The meeting became even more charged when, remarks were allegedly made by Cooper suggesting that continued disagreement could fuel broader discussions about the future of the monetary union itself. Reports claim that the possibility of the union going its separate way was raised by Cooper during the exchange, though the full context and intent of that remark remain unclear.  

St. Maarten’s side allegedly responded that if any rupture were to emerge, it would not be due to outside speculation or recent public commentary about dollarization made by St. Maarten's prime Minister, but rather because of the current disagreement over governance and the handling of the CBCS chairmanship issue. The exchange was described as unusually blunt, highlighting the seriousness of the dispute.

Another issue reportedly raised during the Curaçao talks involved confusion over the history of the last CBCS chair. According to reports, differing claims were allegedly made as to whether the previous chair had been nominated by St. Maarten or by Curaçao. That question became a point of contention, with each side said to be referencing different sources in support of its interpretation. According to Minister Cooper, the last official Chairperson was Etienne Ys who was nominated by St. Maarten. The St. Maarten side apparently rejected this notion as an impossibility.

Adding to the already tense situation, there are also parallel matters taking shape regarding the internal functioning of the CBCS itself. According to those reports, it was allegedly indicated that an internal decision had been made for Prime Minister Pisas to handle the bank’s day-to-day operational matters, while Cooper would remain the legal signatory, effectively making Minister Cooper a rubber-stamp.

If accurate, that alleged arrangement could raise additional questions about internal authority, transparency, and decision-making within the CBCS. However, as of now, that element of the reported discussion remains unconfirmed in the public domain and should be treated with caution.

The reported exchanges suggest that what was expected to be a governance meeting may instead have exposed deeper tensions over trust, process, and balance within one of the most sensitive shared institutions between Curaçao and St. Maarten.

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