On 18 February 2016, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) published its supervisory agenda for the period 2016 to 2018 (the Agenda 2016-2018).
The AFM will aim to reduce unwanted risks in the financial markets through regular and thematic supervision. In addition, the AFM will strive to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its organisation. In order to achieve the foregoing, the AFM will primarily focus on the following three priorities:
- reducing unwanted risks resulting from the behaviour of both traditional and new players in the financial markets. In its Agenda 2016-2018, the AFM provides a top 10 of such risks, which includes risk as a result of irresponsible lending, pension products, innovation and the growth of asset management;
- strengthening supervision in order to be able to respond to social and technological developments in the financial markets. The AFM believes that it is necessary to invest in a technology- and data-driven organisation, for example by investing in market monitoring systems which can analyse large quantities of market data. In addition, the AFM finds it important to gain insight in the behaviour of all market parties (both on the supplier and buyer side). To help gain this insight, the AFM has established the Expertise Centre (Expertise Centrum), which helps the AFM to build knowledge of the behaviour and culture in the financial markets and to come up with new methods of intervention; and
- strengthening the AFM’s internal organisation by simplifying its organisation, working more efficiently and improving processes and risk management.
Furthermore, in the Agenda 2016-2018 the AFM briefly sets out the most important (social as well as financial) trends it sees in the financial markets.
View the Agenda 2016-2018 (Dutch only), 18 February 2016
View the AFM’s press release on the Agenda 2016-2018 (Dutch only), 18 February 2016
