Dutch insurers continue to invest less in bonds
Insurers in the Netherlands continued to sell direct investments in bonds in 2023, new figures from DNB show. For the fourth year in a row, insurers sold more bonds than they bought.
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We all need financial institutions such as banks and insurers for our money matters. At DNB, we supervise these institutions. Our supervisors check that they are handling your and our money properly and take action when this is not the case.
As a customer, you cannot always check for yourself whether a financial institution is reliable. Financial supervisors do this for you – De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). The AFM looks at financial institutions' conduct. We check that they have enough cash on hand and a buffer to help them navigate headwinds. And we monitor their efforts to combat money laundering. While supervision reduces the risk of something going wrong, it offers no certainty. If a Dutch bank fails, you will get your money back up to a maximum of €100,000, under the Dutch deposit guarantee.
We supervise no fewer than 1,200 financial institutions, From banks to crypto service providers and from pension funds to insurers. To provide financial services, everyone needs our approval. Approval can take different forms, such as a licence or registration. This, in turn, determines the type of supervision we exercise. For licensed institutions, we check their financial health, whether their directors are suitable and reliable, and whether they are doing enough to combat money laundering. For registered institutions, we monitor their directors and their approach to money laundering, but we do not check their financial health. This applies, for example, to all crypto service providers. You can view the public register to check whether a financial institution is licensed or registered.
Supervision requires a lot of data. Institutions submit reports to us, which helps our supervisors understand how they are doing financially. Also, supervisors hold regular discussions with, for example, an institution's board and risk managers. And sometimes they conduct extensive inspections at the institution itself, for example to dig through financial accounts, to audit the IT systems or examine the corporate culture. They pay particular attention to the risks and focus more on large institutions than on small ones. After all, when a large institution gets into trouble, the consequences are bigger.
If our supervisors have concerns about an institution, they take action and intervene. They may insist on having a serious discussion to agree on clear plan to resolve problems as quickly as possible. Or they could tell the institution to keep an extra buffer to absorb losses. If they have bigger concerns, our supervisors may deploy more serious instruments, such as imposing a fine.
If a bank or insurer fails or threatens to fail, we try to limit the damage for account holders or policyholders. This process is called resolution. In resolution, the bank or insurer is relaunched or sold. If a bank goes bankrupt, you will get your money back up to €100,000, under the Dutch deposit guarantee. We administer this guarantee scheme.
The European Central Bank (ECB) supervises all large banks in the euro area. In the Netherlands, these include ING, ABN AMRO, Volksbank and Rabobank. National financial supervisors such as DNB supervise all smaller banks, in collaboration with the ECB. The ECB can always decide to directly supervise one of these smaller banks itself. Read more about European supervision of large banks.
We are responsible for the supervision of financial institutions in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. In so doing, we collaborate with the AFM and the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten.
Insurers in the Netherlands continued to sell direct investments in bonds in 2023, new figures from DNB show. For the fourth year in a row, insurers sold more bonds than they bought.
Read moreIn the fourth quarter of 2023, Dutch pension funds saw their average funding ratios deteriorate relative to the third quarter, as the value of their liabilities increased more than the value of their investments.
Read moreIn the third quarter of 2023, Dutch investment funds achieved relatively solid returns, despite falling global bond and equity prices, as revealed by new DNB figures.
Read moreDutch non-bank financial service providers once again provided less financing such as loans in 2022. The decrease is mainly due to fewer investments and price losses in investment funds.
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