Financial undertakings have recently received further guidance from the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) as regards the Dutch Financial Undertakings (Remuneration Policy) Act (Wet beloningsbeleid financiële ondernemingen, the Act) which came into effect earlier this year on 7 February 2015.

The Act introduced remuneration rules for financial undertakings (financiële ondernemingen) that have their statutory seat in the Netherlands and fall within the scope of the Act on the Financial Supervision (Wet op het financieel toezicht). The Act also applies to such financial undertakings’  subsidiaries including those located abroad. Among the Act’s provisions is a restriction on a financial undertaking that it cannot pay to any person working under its responsibility variable remuneration exceeding 20% of their fixed annual remuneration. It is this provision, perhaps, which the Act is best known for.

The AFM has now published a FAQ on the Act, which addresses a number of important questions such as:

• Who are subject to these remuneration rules?
• Are financial undertakings required to make their remuneration policies publicly available?
• How can we achieve a sound remuneration policy?

View the AFM’s FAQ on remuneration policies (available in Dutch only), 16 October 2015.