Brexit

The expiry of the Brexit transitional period at the end of 2020 may mean changes in the services provided to you by UK financial institutions. For example, UK banks can no longer provide services from the UK such as taking or holding deposits (saving and payment accounts) to retail customers in the Netherlands after the end of the transitional period. The purpose of the laws and regulations preventing this is to protect retail customers. Services to specific groups of professional customers (professional market parties) can be continued, however. Recently, we published a factsheet for UK financial institutions specifying which cross-border financial services provided by UK institutions to customers in the Netherlands are still allowed/no longer allowed from 2021, after the end of the transitional period.

Many UK financial institutions – including UK banks –have taken measures to be allowed to continue providing services to customers in the Netherlands (and elsewhere in the EU) after the end of the transitional period. One of the options for UK banks to continue serving customers in the EU/the Netherlands is to transfer customers to new or existing offices in the EU. A number of UK banks have therefore set up European subsidiaries or expanded the activities of existing subsidiaries due to Brexit. However, the expiry of the transitional period at the end of this year may also prompt a UK financial institution to decide to terminate customer services in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the EU. Unfortunately this is a consequence of Brexit. When there are changes in customer relationships, UK financial institutions must communicate these to their customers in the Netherlands in a clear and timely manner. We have discussed the importance of this with the UK supervisory authorities.

If you have any questions about the impact of Brexit on the services provided to you by a UK financial institution, or what alternative options exist, we advise you to contact your UK service provider. For further information about lending – including mortgage loans – by UK banks to retail customers in the Netherlands, please refer to the information published by the AFM.

• Yes you can. Measures have been taken to ensure that you can still use your debit card to pay for your purchases, even if the transitional period ends without clear agreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UK.
• Similarly, you can still withdraw pounds sterling from ATMs in the UK.
• If you are a retailer in the Netherlands, UK customers with UK debit or credit cards can still pay for their purchases using your POS terminal and withdraw money from ATMs in the Netherlands.

That depends on your bank. Please contact your bank to find out

Yes you can, even if the transitional period finishes at the end of 2020 without clear agreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. This applies to funds transfers, direct debits, and debit and credit card payments. However, as of 1 January 2021, banks must provide the address of the payer or payee for transfers to or from, or a direct debit to or from the UK. Banks are prepared and may contact you about this. Payments in pound sterling will also continue uninterrupted.

Please consult the Dutch-language website page on this subject provided by the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.

Please consult the Dutch-language website page on this subject provided by the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.

Yes your money will still be protected. The UK deposit guarantee scheme currently protects your deposits up to GBP 85,000. Banks and administrators of deposit guarantee schemes ensure that your money will be protected even if the transitional period should end without clear agreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. You do not have to take any further action. The DGS that will protect your deposits after the transitional period depends on your situation. For further information please contact your bank. If you would like more information about deposit guarantee schemes, please contact De Nederlandsche Bank.

Yes your money will still be protected. The Dutch deposit guarantee scheme currently protects your deposits up to EUR 100,000. Banks and administrators of deposit guarantee schemes ensure that your money will be protected even if the transitional period should end without clear agreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. You do not have to take any further action. The DGS that will protect your deposits after the transitional period depends on your situation. For further information please contact your bank. If you would like more information about deposit guarantee schemes, please contact De Nederlandsche Bank.

The Dutch government does not see a need at this stage to grant a (temporary) exemption for UK-based investment firms to provide investment services in the Netherlands after 2020. This was announced in a letter (in Dutch) to the House of Representatives on 21 August 2020. The European Commission also published a communication stating that it will not adopt an equivalence decision in this area in the coming period. 

This means that UK service providers - if they do not take additional contingency measures - will no longer be able to provide many of their services to Dutch professional clients after 2020. This applies, for example, to investment services in relation to outstanding uncleared OTC derivative contracts. 

In view of these developments, it is important for Dutch financial institutions – in case they have not yet done so - to engage in a timely manner with their UK investment service providers to prevent disruptions to these services as of 1 January 2021. In this respect it is important to verify that UK investment service providers have the appropriate licences to continue to be able to provide services to Dutch professional clients in 2021, for example by transferring (derivative) contracts to EU entities of UK service providers.

It is expected that the rights of UK financial institutions to provide cross-border financial services in the Netherlands will in many cases no longer apply as of 2021. We therefore call on UK institutions to take timely preparatory measures to ensure compliance with the relevant Dutch laws and regulations after the transitional period. 

DNB recently published a factsheet specifying which cross-border financial services UK institutions will still be allowed to provide to Dutch customers as of 2021, after the end of the transitional period.

For further information about applying for licences from DNB, see here. 

For any other questions:

• infobetaalinstelling@dnb.nl (payment institutions and electronic money institutions).
• crossborderservices@dnb.nl (insurers)
• infocrossborderservicesUKbanks@dnb.nl (banks). 

We are making various preparations for the consequences of the UK's departure from the EU. Firstly, we are discussing licence applications with UK financial institutions wishing to continue operating in the Netherlands and the EU following Brexit and the transitional period. We have already issued many licences (see the Q&A below). At European level, we are also working with other supervisory authorities – through for example the SSM – to set out minimum requirements and expectations for UK-based financial institutions that wish to establish an operation in the EU post-Brexit.

We are also responsible for financial stability and a reliable and efficient payment system. In this capacity we analyse the risks related to Brexit and advise parties such as the Ministry of Finance about legislative amendments. The risks Brexit poses to financial stability have also been discussed several times in the Financial Stability Committee (see information in Dutch here and here). In addition, we monitor that institutions under our supervision and oversight prepare for the consequences of Brexit here in the Netherlands. Lastly, we are making our own preparations related to contracts we entered into with UK counterparties in the context of our own trading operations.

Due to Brexit, various financial institutions are looking to open branches in the Netherlands to retain access to the European markets. We have already issued some 40 Brexit-related licenses autonomously, or acting in an advisory capacity for the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (whereby the AFM is the licensing authority). The applicants are a varied group of institutions. Beside several banks and insurance firms, these are mostly payment institutions, electronic money institutions and investment firms, such as trading platforms. Some other licence applications are still being processed.

In May 2019 DNB and the AFM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This MoU will lay the basis for continued cooperation and exchange of information between the four supervisory authorities post-Brexit, and is based on a previously agreed EBA framework. It will take effect when EU legislation no longer applies in the UK, following the transitional period.

The MoU includes agreements about what types of information can be exchanged about institutions engaged in cross-border activities between the Netherlands and the UK. It also sets out practical agreements about conducting joint supervisory activities. The MoU covers all institutions supervised by the four aforementioned supervisory authorities, with the exception of insurance and reinsurance firms, and pension funds. For these categories of institutions, multilateral EIOPA-based MoUs have since been signed between the EU27 supervisory authorities and the PRA, FCA and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in the UK. DNB and the AFM are also co-signatories to these MoUs, and we will also sign other MoUs where relevant.