On 23 May 2019, the Act extending notification obligations for shareholders (Wet uitbreiding meldplichten aandeelhouders, the Act) was published for consultation. Chapter 5.3 of the Act on the Financial Supervision (Wet op het financieel toezicht, AFS) will be amended. The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) maintains a register for substantial … Continue Reading
The European Supervisory Authorities Joint Guidelines on the prudential assessment of acquisitions and increases of qualifying holdings in the banking, insurance and securities sectors (the Joint Guidelines) will be changing the way in which the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) handles applications for a declaration of no objection (verklaring van geen bezwaar, DNO). On … Continue Reading
On 26 March 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) announced that it will conduct a sector-wide research into non-financial risks that are important for controlled and ethical business operations of insurers. For this purpose, DNB will make an inquiry with insurers to gain insight into a number of non-financial risks in the … Continue Reading
On 20 March 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) announced that it has signed the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) as part of its new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. By doing so DNB, has committed itself to integrate six environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in its investment practices. DNB is … Continue Reading
Following an investigation in January 2019, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) announced its intention to introduce two national product intervention measures, following the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) EU-wide temporary measures relating to binary options and CFDs introduced last year. The investigation has made it clear that … Continue Reading
On 20 December 2018, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a public statement stating that it is ready to review UK central counterparties’ (CCPs) and Central Securities Depositories’ (CSDs) recognition applications for a no-deal Brexit scenario. ESMA states that it aims to recognise UK CCPs in a timely manner, where the four recognition conditions … Continue Reading
On 17 December 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (the Minister) sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament on the decision-making progress with regard to the revised EU prudential framework for investment firms. This framework consists of a proposal for a regulation on prudential requirements for investment firms (the Investment Firm Regulation) and a proposal … Continue Reading
On 2 November 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (the Minister) sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament which addresses topics which the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) had requested the Minister to implement. Amongst other things, the following topics are … Continue Reading
On 2 November 2018, the Regulation on costs for one-time supervisory actions (Regeling bekostiging financieel toezicht eenmalige handelingen, the Proposed Regulation) was published for consultation. The Proposed Regulation will amend the fees for one-time supervisory actions by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche … Continue Reading
On 29 October 2018, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) published a report setting out the most important trends and risks in the financial sector (the Report). The primary purpose of the Report is to provide substantive background, depth and coherence in relation to relevant supervisory issues. In the Report, … Continue Reading
On 30 August 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (the Minister) published a consultation on amending the Dutch national regime under Section 3 of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (recast) (MiFID II). The Minister proposes to extend the scope of the national regime. In addition to advisors in life insurance or mortgage credit, other … Continue Reading
On 30 August 2018, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) notified financial institutions that it expects them to make the necessary amendments to their systems and procedures to comply with the implementation of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU/2015/849) (Vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn, 4MLD) that came into force on 25 July 2018. The main aspects as referred … Continue Reading
Markus Ferber, a German MEP, has been elected the new whip for the European People’s Party in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). Mr Ferber previously was the first vice chair of the ECON committee and succeeds Burkhard Balz who is leaving the Parliament to join the board of German Bundesbank … Continue Reading
On 23 and 24 July 2018, the following legislation implementing the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU/2015/849) (Vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn, 4MLD) were published in the Dutch Government Gazette (Staatsblad). the Act implementing 4MLD (Implementatiewet vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn); the Decree implementing 4MLD (Uitvoeringsbesluit vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn); and the Regulation implementing 4MLD (Implementatieregeling vierde anti-witwasrichtlijn). These pieces of legislation will come … Continue Reading
On 17 July 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (the Minister) published a consultation document regarding potential additional remuneration restrictions within the financial sector (the Consultation Document). The purpose of these restrictions is to contribute to the recovery of trust within the financial sector. The Consultation Document invites market participants to provide their input on the … Continue Reading
On 19 June 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (Minister) sent the following documents to the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer): proposed amendments to the legislative proposal on the Act implementing the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2, EU/2015/2366) (Implementatiewet herziene richtlijn betaaldiensten, the Proposed Act); and the Further Memorandum of Reply (Nadere memorie van antwoord) on … Continue Reading
On 18 June 2018, the Financial Supervision Funding Decree 2018 (Regeling bekostiging financieel toezicht 2018, the Decree) was published in the Dutch Government Gazette (Staatscourant). The Decree implements the Financial Supervision Funding Act (Wet bekostiging financieel toezicht) and sets out the bandwidths and tariffs for supervisory costs levied by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial … Continue Reading
On 13 June 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance (Minister) sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) regarding the implementation of a motion that aims to organise the objection procedure (bezwaarprocedure) in the context of integrity and suitability screenings carried out by Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) and … Continue Reading
On 7 June 2018, the draft Decree implementing the revised Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive (EU/2016/2341) (IORP II) was published for consultation (Besluit in verband met implementatie van de herziene IORP-richtlijn, the Implementing Decree). IORP II aims to improve the governance, risk management, transparency, provision of information and to increase cross-border activity of pension … Continue Reading
On 5 June 2018, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) released its Payments Strategy for 2018 to 2021. DNB indicates that it will focus on three key priorities: stimulating innovation: DNB seeks to stimulate innovation by deepening its understanding of new technologies, such as those underlying cryptos and supporting market initiatives. In this … Continue Reading
On 26 April 2018, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published their legislative letters for 2018. The AFM and the DNB annually send legislative letters to the Dutch Minister of Finance in which they set out relevant European and national … Continue Reading
On 21 March 2018, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published Q&As relevant to investment firms dealing on own account (handelaren voor eigen rekening), so-called proprietary trading firms. The background to the Q&As are developments around the prudential regime and remuneration rules applicable to proprietary trading firms that were designated as local firms … Continue Reading
On 16 February 2018, the Dutch Minister of Finance sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament regarding developments around the prudential regime and remuneration rules applicable to investment firms that exclusively deal on own account (handelen voor eigen rekening) in the Netherlands, i.e. proprietary trading firms (the Letter). Following the discussions around the Dutch prudential … Continue Reading
On 24 January 2018, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) issued a press release on its website announcing its supervisory agenda for 2018 (the Agenda 2018). In its press release, the AFM puts emphasis on new data analysis initiatives that it will be commencing in 2018 with the aim … Continue Reading