The Sanctions Act (Sanctiewet 1977 – Sw) applies to everyone, and we monitor compliance by crypto service providers.
The Regulation on Supervision pursuant to the Sanctions Act 1977 (Regeling toezicht Sanctiewet 1977) imposes further requirements on supervised institutions. Crypto service providers must check whether their clients and any ultimate beneficiary owners (UBOs) are on a Dutch or European sanctions list and report any hits to DNB.
Risk-based checks are not permitted. Under Dutch and EU sanction rules, no funds may be made available to individuals or entities that are on a sanctions list. Institutions can determine on a risk-basis the frequency with which they check existing clients that were screened during onboarding.
Sw compliance also entails that institutions must check incoming and outgoing payment transfers, and block and report them to DNB in the event of a hit.
Some European regulations prohibit firms from cooperating in the transportation of embargo goods to sanctioned countries, for example by facilitating a transaction or providing a financial service. This means institutions facilitating transactions to sanctioned countries must be keenly aware of this.
In the event of an actual hit in a sanctions list, the institution must immediately notify DNB, as well as freeze any assets, block the transaction, or do both. Accordingly, assets may not be released to any other, non-sanctioned, party. FIU-NL must also be notified in specific cases.
Non-compliance with the provisions adopted in or pursuant to the Sw, which may include international sanctions regimes, is punishable under the Economic Offences Act.
DNB provides a great deal of information on the Sanctions Act, the sanctions lists and the reporting procedure on its Open Book on Supervision web pages and in its Guidance on the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act and the Sanctions Act. DNB also distributes regular updates on the various sanctions regimes via Twitter and email.
On 14 July 2023, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) imposed an order subject to penalty on Payward International Markets Limited (Payward International), operating under the trade name Kraken.
Read more Order subject to penalty imposed on Payward International Markets Limited for offering crypto services in the Netherlands without registration
Supervisory authority De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is submitting a new anti-money laundering approach to financial institutions and other stakeholders as part of a public consultation. In a policy document presented today [...]
Read more DNB submits new anti-money laundering approach to financial sector
DNB has conducted a series of examinations to assess financial institutions’ compliance with sanctions regulations and, more specifically, whether their compliance operations are fit for purpose. We are happy to share the results of these investigations.
Read more Sanctions Act examinations: room for improvement, but sector shows strong commitment to compliance
Did you know that you can track the status of your assessment application in My DNB? As of 11 May 2023 you can see the status of your assessment application in My DNB – Supervisory Applications Service.
Read more New: status of your assessment application with DNB
