Legal counseling and secretarial assistance

 Legal services in the Netherlands

Every country has it own specific regulations to comply with. ABiLiTieS Trust prepares or reviews all standard legal documents in accordance with Dutch law and handles all secretarial tasks such as legalisations. 

How comfortable and assuring it is to have a short call or email and to have your question answered in no time by an experienced Dutch legal counsel? All for an attractive hourly rate or fixed fee.

Amongst others our legal team has good knowledge of corporate law, employment law, compliance/sanction regulations and other regulations businesses encounter. Our legal counsels also have extensive practical knowledge of accounting and taxation enabling them to cooperate efficiently with the tax and accounting teams. 

Being based at the South side of Amsterdam, close to the financial and legal heart of the Netherlands, ABiLiTieS Trust will share with you the contacts of firms from our extensive network of notaries, lawyers and legal specialists.  

You can trust that your company will be in good standing and the registration with the trade register up to date. 

In case you have a director's position at your company in Netherlands, the tax and publication deadlines will be monitored, thus mitigating the risk of personal liability.  

Process Agent Services in the Netherlands

Do you urgently require a Dutch process agent? Contact ABiLiTieS for 24 hour service and attractive fees.  

Large lease and finance transactions vary greatly from each other. Yet a common provision included in financing agreements is the appointment of an agency for service of process, known as a ‘process agent’.

When it comes to global finance contracts, it is key for all parties involved to understand the role of a process agent. For a proper execution, the process agent appointment should take place before the deal is signed.

The Netherlands is often the favorable jurisdiction, because of the presence of large banks, a large number of treaties and flexible law. When the transaction prescribes a choice of law in the Netherlands and your business does not have a physical presence, i.e. a registered address, a process agent is appointed. 

What does a Dutch process agent do? 

The role of your process agent is to act as a representative in the Netherlands to which court papers can be served. The process agency is delivering the papers per the instructions of the appointing parties.

ABiLiTieS can act as your business' representative in the Netherlands. Often transactions are complex and the role of process agent arranged at the last minute. You can rely on us. We can arrange a process agent agreement for the Netherlands in less than a day. 

Contact us in case of any questions or to request a fee quote.

Secretarial services

ABiLiTieS Trust can support your Dutch operations in many ways by means of our devoted secretarial assistance which does not stop after office hours:

> Corporate filing

> Registrations with the UBO and trade register 

> Arranging legalisations and apostilles

> Requesting residence certificates

> Hiring official translators and interpreters

> Handling post received at the Dutch business address

> Making office translations of Dutch correspondence

> Planning and hosting of meetings and conference calls

> Arrange transportations or personal pick up

> Advice on, and booking of hotels and restaurants in or outside Amsterdam

Secretarial services are offered at low rates, while providing a strong relief. Keeping the registration of your company's details with the trade register is very important. There can be severe legal implications in case of late or no registration of changes.

Does a Dutch company require a corporate secretary?

In common law countries, the company secretary ensures the company remains in compliance with company law, maintains certain statutory registers and makes the necessary filings with the companies register such as annual returns, financial reports and certain forms with respect to changes to the board and share capital. 

In the Netherlands, a company secretary is not required. Also the signing of documents does not require the involvement of a corporate secretary as witness under Dutch law. ABiLiTieS fulfils a role very similar to company secretary to many of its client companies. As a legal specialist it advises and makes sure all filings are made accurately and on time. 

Has your Dutch business registered its UBO's?

A Dutch company shall have its (in)direct beneficiaries with more than 25% ownership or votingship rights registered in the UBO register. A UBO shall always be a natural person. In case there is no UBO, a pseudo UBO shall be registered. ABiLiTieS can provide you with guidance and registration support.

Contact us in case of any questions or to request a fee quote.

Declaration of non-bankruptcy

If you want to demonstrate that you or your company has not been involved in a bankruptcy in the past 5 years, you can request a deed of non-bankruptcy (akte non-failliet). It is also called statement of non-bankruptcy or declaration on non-bankruptcy.

There are three types of statements: 

on natural persons;

on natural persons with a business (such as sole proprietors);

 on legal entities.

To find out if a company is bankrupt, you can also search the Centraal Insolventieregister (central insolvency register). This is a public register maintained by the district courts.

Do you need a statement of non-bankruptcy for your Dutch company? Abilities can assist you. Contact us.

Liquidation support for terminating your Dutch business

If you wish to liquidate your Dutch business, a winding up process shall be initiated. Without the formal appointment of a liquidator in the Netherlands, a Dutch company can only execute via a turbo liquidation process. This is similar to a 'strike-off' in other jurisdictions. Note that it is raising potential personal liability issues for directors.

With local service providers typically reluctant to accept liquidation engagements, the role and responsibilities of liquidator is generally performed by the former directors of the company. 

ABiLiTieS offers full legal and accounting support for normal winding ups and turbo liquidation. Also we can monitor the tax consequences. If favored ABiLiTieS can also act as your company's liquidator. 

A liquidation process required specialist knowledge and experience. In particular in relation to  and large need for objectivity and transparency in the performance of the work. As a result there has been increasing demand for winding ups to be conducted by an independent third party services providers, such as ABiLITieS.

Useful link:

Dutch Government with all effective legislation