On 7 April 2016, the Dutch Minister of Finance published a letter in which it informs the Dutch Parliament on the structure and approach for exploring a revision of the Act on the Financial Supervision (Wet op het financieel toezicht, AFS).

Since its entry into force on 1 January 2007, the AFS has been subject to numerous amendments as a result of the continuously increasing number of rules and regulations in the field of financial law. According to the Minister of Finance, as well as the Council of State (Raad van State), it is important that these rules and regulations are clear and accessible. Therefore, it will be investigated whether, and if so how, it is possible to make the rules and regulations for the financial markets more accessible and future-proof. In addition, the Minister of Finance will examine to what extent the financial regulatory system will be able to adapt to and take into account new (European) developments and other future developments, such as technological innovation in the Dutch financial sector.

The purpose of this investigation is to collate the issues with the AFS in a note and to subsequently draw conclusions after weighing the pros and cons of the possible solutions. For this purpose, discussions will take place with representatives of the financial sector, such as regulatory authorities, the legal practice, academics and consumer organisations and public consultations will be held. A final version of the aforementioned note is expected to be published in the summer of 2017.

View the Dutch Minister of Finance’s letter to the Dutch Parliament (Dutch only), 7 April 2016.