Organisation

A multifaceted organisation

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is a multifaceted organisation with multiple tasks. An overview of our official capacities:

• DNB is a public limited company incorporated under Dutch law. The Dutch State is the sole shareholder.

• DNB is a central bank. Together with other central banks, we are committed to an inflation rate of around 2% and secure, fast and convenient payments. This central bank partnership is called the Eurosystem. It is headed by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), which makes decisions on the interest rates and payments The President of DNB has a seat on this council. DNB operates completely independently of any influence, political or otherwise.
  
  
• DNB is the prudential supervisor of financial institutions. Together with other European supervisory authorities, we supervise the major banks  in Europe in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) The ECB’s Supervisory Board prepares the decisions and the ECB’s Governing Council makes the decisions. DNB’s Executive Board Member for Supervision has a seat on the ECB’s Supervisory Board. 
  
  
• DNB works together in the European Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) to limit the damage if a large bank or insurer gets into trouble.  The Single Resolution Board (SRB) makes the decisions. Our Executive Board Member of Resolution is a member of the SRB.

• DNB is an autonomous administrative authority with a national mandate for supervision, resolution and the deposit guarantee scheme (DGS). DNB’s supervision and resolution of large banks and insurers takes place in the European context. 

Executive board

The Executive Board is responsible for the proper performance of DNB’s tasks. It reports the results achieved in the Annual Report and to the General Meeting. For the supervision, resolution and deposit guarantee tasks, the Executive Board is accountable to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. The Executive Board Members are responsible for DNB's national tasks and also have European responsibilities. Read more about DNB’s Executive Board. 

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board advises the Executive Board and supervises the way in which it leads the organisation and pursues its policies for the national tasks. The Supervisory Board does not supervise the performance of DNB’s tasks in the European context, such as policies aimed at an inflation rate of around 2% and secure, fast and convenient payments. The Supervisory Board’s approval is required for major Executive Board decisions, the budget and the financial statements. One of the members of the Supervisory Board is appointed by the government and acts as a liaison with the Minister of Finance. Read more about the Supervisory Board

General Meeting

DNB has a special General Meeting, because there is only one shareholder: the Dutch State, which is represented by the Minister of Finance. Adoption of the financial statements requires the approval of the General Meeting. The General Meeting also assesses the Executive Board’s policies and the the Supervisory Board’s supervision. And it appoints the members of the Supervisory Board and the external auditor.

Bank Council

The Bank Council acts as a sounding board for the Executive Board. The President reports to the Bank Council on general economic and financial developments and discusses the policies pursued by DNB with the Bank Council. The Bank Council is a mixed group of external stakeholders. It comprises 11 to 13 members, including two members of the Supervisory Board.

Bank Act and Dutch Corporate Governance Code

The rules that govern DNB’s organisational structure and governance are set out in the Bank Act 1998, the Articles of Association and other regulations based on them. DNB applies the Dutch Corporate Governance Code on a voluntary basis, even if its application is only mandatory for listed corporations. Read more: DNB’s organisational structure and governance and Dutch corporate governance code. 

De Nederlandsche Bank’s tasks

DNB has many different tasks: from supervision to interest rate policy. Read more about the tasks of De Nederlandsche Bank.