Court raises Nagico Aruba fines to nearly Afl. 4.3 million

ORANJESTAD — Nagico Aruba N.V. and Nagico Life Insurance (Aruba) N.V. must jointly pay nearly Afl. 4.3 million in fines for 19 violations involving integrity, corporate governance and IT security. The Joint Court has largely reversed an earlier substantial reduction of the penalties.

The Central Bank of Aruba (CBA) originally imposed combined fines of nearly Afl. 6 million in 2023. In early 2025, the Court of First Instance reduced the amount to nearly Afl. 2.2 million. Both Nagico and the Central Bank appealed.

The Court has now ruled that the CBA was entitled to regard the 19 shortcomings as separate violations and, in principle, impose individual fines for each.

The violations included conflicts of interest, the absence of a clearly identifiable compliance officer, insufficient ongoing screening of integrity-sensitive positions and inadequate supervision by the Supervisory Board. There were also shortcomings in IT risk management and information security, including inadequate controls over system access.

The Court did not fully restore the original Afl. 6 million penalty. Because some of the violations were related, the judges applied an additional 25% reduction. Together with earlier reductions for willingness to improve and financial capacity, each of the two companies must pay slightly more than Afl. 2.13 million.

The ruling also has broader significance for financial supervision in Aruba. The Court confirmed that CBA guidelines on integrity and corporate governance can constitute binding requirements when they fall within the regulator’s legal authority, and breaches can therefore be penalized separately.