NETHERLANDS
AMSTERDAM CITY CENTRE
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
RETURN TO FORM
Maria Jackson reports
IN MAY, the Netherlands was named as one of a core group of eight European Union (EU) countries that had objected to centralised controls on the bloc’s corporate
tax system. Understandably, the proposals are an anathema for a country that sells itself on its highly open economy and progressive tax regime.
Over the past decade, the Netherlands has estab-
lished itself as one of the leading European states for
attracting foreign direct investment. In 2010, the
Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) sup-
ported the establishment of 155 foreign investment
projects, and the United States was responsible for a
third of that total. The US continues to be the leading
single-country investor in the Netherlands, with 1750
North American companies setting-up-shop there – sig-
nificantly the Netherlands returns the favour and is one
of the four largest direct investors in the US.
GOING DUTCH
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek is one of the
Netherlands’ most high profile firms and its corporate
record is second-to-none; the firm advised on
$15,810m worth of deals in the Netherlands in 2010
(see box out) more than any other Dutch-based firm. In
a major recent mandate, the firm advised multinational,
Royal Philips Electronics on the establishment of a joint
venture with TPV Technology relating to Philips’ TV
business.
‘Fundamentally, the Netherlands is a stable country
with an economy of a considerable size - its GDP of
$680bn ranks around the twentieth largest in the
