Analysing Curaçao as an offshore financial centre from its inception to its gradual decline, we find that it originated and evolved in close concert with the demand for such services from Western countries. Dutch banks and multinationals spearheaded the creation of institutions on the island facilitating tax avoidance. In this they were aided and abetted by their government, which firmly supported the Antilles in getting access to bilateral tax treaties, notably the one with the United States. Until the mid 1980s Curaçao flourished, but then found it increasingly difficult to keep a competitive advantage over other offshore centres. Meanwhile the Curaçao connection had enabled the Netherlands to turn itself into a hub for international revenue flows that today still feed both Dutch tax income and specialised financial, legal and accounting services.

Fleshy macroalgae are becoming a dominant benthic component on Caribbean coral reefs, with increased abundance and frequency across all reef zones. Over the past two decades, the brown alga Lobophora variegata has proliferated on shallow and deep reefs in Curaçao, former Netherlands Antilles. This alga provides a living substrate for a diverse epiphytic community. Here we report on Neosiphonia howei (Rhodomelaceae: Ceramiales), growing epiphytically on L. variegata over a broad depth gradient (6.5 to 40 m). Although N. howei has been reported as a typical epiphyte in shallow water, it was commonly found on L. variegata blades on the reef slope in all fertile stages. This epiphyte anchored deeply into the host tissue, suggesting hemiparasitic behaviour. The spread of L. variegata may have increased the depth-range of N. howei and the exact nature of the interaction between N. howei and its host deserves further research considering the importance of fleshy macroalgae on coral reefs.

Curaçao has reef terraces with the potential to provide sea-level histories of interglacial periods. Ages of the Hato (upper) unit of the “Lower Terrace” indicate that this reef dates to the last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5. On Curaçao, this high sea stand lasted at least 8000 yr (~ 126 to ~ 118 ka). Elevations and age of this reef show that late Quaternary uplift rates on Curaçao are low, 0.026–0.054 m/ka, consistent with its tectonic setting. Ages of ~ 200 ka for corals from the older Cortalein unit of the Lower Terrace correlate this reef to MIS 7, with paleo-sea level estimates ranging from − 3.3 m to + 2.3 m. The estimates are in agreement with those for MIS 7 made from other localities and indicate that the penultimate interglacial period was a time of significant warmth, on a par with the present interglacial period. The ~ 400 ka (MIS 11) Middle Terrace I on Curaçao, dated by others, may have formed from a paleo-sea level of + 8.3 to + 10.0 m, or (less likely) + 17 m to + 20 m. The lower estimates are conservative compared to previous studies, but still require major ice sheet loss from Greenland and Antarctica.