Information session about fit and proper assessments DNB
On Tuesday 28th May from 3:00-4:45 PM CET DNB will organize an online information session about fit and proper assessments.
Read more Information session about fit and proper assessments DNBYou are using an outdated browser. DNB.nl works best with:
We have various instruments at our disposal to enforce compliance with the Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht — Wft). One such instrument is issuing an instruction.
Published: 01 January 2007
DNB and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) monitor compliance with the Wft or subsidiary legislation. We have several tools at our disposal to ensure we can exercise effective supervision. For example, we have the power to request information, issue an instruction and appoint a caretaker.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also has the power to issue an instruction as referred to in Section 1:75 of the Wft, but only to the extent that it is authorised to exercise supervision under Articles 4 and 6 of the Banking Supervision Regulation. These articles thus determine whether DNB or the ECB is authorised to issue an instruction. For the sake of brevity, we only refer to DNB as the competent authority below.
When we issue an instruction, we order a financial institution to perform one or more prescribed actions aimed at terminating or undoing its non-compliance. We issue instructions to ensure that institutions comply with the relevant rules. We may, for example, order a financial institution to dismiss a board member or discontinue specific activities. In most cases, we will first issue a warning before issuing an instruction.
We may issue an instruction to institutions that fail to comply with obligations they have under the Wft. These include financial institutions, representatives of insurers and holders of a declaration of no-objection.
We may issue an instruction if an institution fails to comply with the Wft or subsidiary legislation. In addition, we may issue an instruction to a financial undertaking (but not to other firms) if we see signs of a development that may jeopardise the financial institution’s own funds, solvency or liquidity or its technical provisions (see Section 1:75(2) of the Wft).
We must ask the AFM for its opinion if we want to instruct an institution to dismiss a policymaker or co-policymaker, or a person who is part of the body responsible for supervising the institution's policy and general course of business (see Section 1:47(1) and (2) of the Wft). The DNB-AFM Covenant contains further agreements about the consultations between DNB and the AFM.
We are obliged to issue an instruction if a particular financial institution based in the Netherlands provides services directly from the Netherlands to another Member State or through a branch in that Member State while failing to comply with the rules of that Member State and if the supervisory authority of that Member State has requested us to do so (see Section 1:59 of the Wft).
An instruction does not affect a financial institution's third-party agreements, as an instruction may not contain any order to amend agreements with third parties (see Section 1:75(4) of the Wft).
This restriction does not apply to the head of a group as referred to in Section 1:114 of the Wft. We may, however, issue an instruction with regard to an institution's agreements with persons working under its responsibility, provided that such agreements relate to Chapter 1.7 of the Wft. (see article 1:75 (5) Wft) This chapter addresses the remuneration policies of financial institutions.
Among other things, the Wft lists the following options that are available if an instruction is not, or not fully, acted on before the set deadline:
We must publish our decision to impose an instruction in response to non-compliance as soon as it has become irrevocable, i.e. after completion of any objection or appeal procedure. Where applicable, we must also publish the outcome of a previous objection or appeal procedure.
The basic idea is that we publish the instruction in full, but there are some exceptions:
We do not publish an instruction before five business days have elapsed after we have notified the financial institutions of the decision to impose or publish the instruction. If the institution files a petition for interim relief during this period, we suspend publication until the court has ruled in interim relief proceedings. In urgent cases, we may decide to publish the instruction immediately without observing the five business days' waiting period.
On Tuesday 28th May from 3:00-4:45 PM CET DNB will organize an online information session about fit and proper assessments.
Read more Information session about fit and proper assessments DNBDe Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is looking forward to hosting its annual seminar on the deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) with the theme “Navigating New Horizons: Exploring the Future of the Dutch Deposit Guarantee”. The seminar will be held on Wednesday 5 June 2024.
Read more Deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) seminar: “Navigating New Horizons: Exploring the Future of the Dutch Deposit GuaranteeDe Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) imposed an instruction on Triodos Bank N.V. (Triodos) on 6 March 2019. DNB found that Triodos was in non-compliance with statutory requirements in the area of customer integrity.
Read more Instruction for Triodos Bank N.V. in 2019 for failing to conduct sound and ethical operational managementHow does one bring the professional oath to life in daily practice? Representatives from the financial sector and the supervisory authorities tackled this question at the DNB seminar on the professional oath in late 2022.
Read more The professional oath in daily practiceWe use cookies to optimise the user-friendliness of our website.
Read more about the cookies we use and the data they collect in our cookie notice.