One Law Passed, Seven Submitted

SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY – POLITICS & GOVERNANCE) – The Parliament of Sint Maarten submitted seven draft national ordinances during the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Year. By the end of the reporting period, only one had been formally adopted: the National Ordinance on a Basic Payment Account for Consumers, approved 14 votes to 0 on January 9, 2026.

The Basic Payment Account ordinance — which establishes rules requiring financial institutions to offer basic bank accounts to consumers — had been in committee since the 2023–2024 Parliamentary Year.

It took more than a year of deliberations, multiple adjournments, and several rounds of amendments before it reached a final vote. Even then, it required amendments proposed by Members of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams and MP Ardwell Irion before clearing the chamber.

What the Other Six Became

The remaining six draft ordinances — covering critical areas including tax reform, financial sector oversight, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers, and securities intermediaries — were still in various stages of deliberation or committee handling as of the end of the parliamentary year.

Final Reports were approved and forwarded to Government for several of them, but formal adoption votes had not yet taken place within the reporting window.

Also notable: one draft Initiative National Ordinance was presented by MP Omar Ottley amending Sint Maarten's immigration law, making use of Parliament's constitutional right of initiative. It was still in committee discussion as of the report's close.