DNB publishes Q&A and good practices on climate-related risks in the ORSA

DNB publishes Q&A and good practices on climate-related risks in the ORSA

November 7, 2019

On 5 November 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a Q&A and good practice document addressing how insurers should take into account climate-related risks in their Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) under Solvency II. In the Q&A, DNB indicates that insurers are required to take into account climate-related risks in their ORSA, as the ORSA must be forward-looking and cover the risks to which the insurer is or could be…

NGFS publishes A Sustainable and Responsible Investment Guide for Central Banks’ Portfolio Management

October 18, 2019

On 17 October 2019, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published a Sustainable and Responsible Investment Guide for Central Bank’s Portfolio Management (the Guide) as part of its mission to encourage central banks and supervisors across the globe to lead by example and include sustainability considerations in their portfolio management. The NGFS, launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on 12 December 2017, is a group of Central Banks and Supervisors that share…

AFM anticipates legislative proposal on remuneration rules for proprietary traders and continues tolerance policy in 2020

By Nikolai de Koning (NL) & Floortje Nagelkerke (NL)

September 17, 2019

The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) currently allows certain groups of proprietary traders (persons dealing on own account) not to comply with the 20% bonus cap. In 2017, propriety traders faced a situation where they would be subject to the bonus cap with immediate effect, while they were first excluded. With its tolerance policy, the AFM wanted to prevent undesirable side effects in the face of further European rules.…

Crypto operators urged to prepare for DNB supervision as of January 2020

September 3, 2019

On 3 September 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) issued a press release announcing that firms that offer services for the exchange between virtual money (cryptos) and regular money, and crypto wallet providers are expected to become subject to DNB’s integrity supervision as of 10 January 2020 as a result of the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD). DNB indicates that these ‘crypto operators’ should start preparing and ideally get in touch with…

Several updates from DNB on PSD2

August 29, 2019

On 28 August 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published several updates in relation to PSD2. Exemptions from contingency mechanism: sixteen account servicing payment service providers (ASPSP) have applied with DNB for an exemption from the contingency mechanism requirement under Article 33(6) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389. DNB is currently considering these applications. ASPSPs that have not applied for the exemption, will need to have a contingency mechanism for account access in…

DNB publishes Q&A on the possible qualification of subscriptions as non-life insurance

August 29, 2019

On 28 August 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a final Q&A which provides clarification on whether subscriptions (abonnementen) offered to consumers may be considered as a non-life insurance (schadeverzekering) product DNB indicates that subscriptions exist in various sectors in multiple variations and that the specific content and context of the subscription is decisive in determining whether it could qualify as a non-life insurance product. The Q&A discusses the two most…

AFM consults investment funds on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing

August 19, 2019

On 16 August 2019, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) published a news item indicating that in the last week of August, alternative investment funds and their managers will be receiving a questionnaire in relation to anti-money laundering and sanctions risks. This questionnaire is circulated annually and the AFM uses the answers to it to determine the risk profiles of investment funds. These risk profiles provide the AFM with…

DNB publishes general principles for the use of AI in the financial sector

July 26, 2019

On 25 July 2019, the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a guidance document containing general principles for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector (the Guidance Document). The Guidance Document serves as a discussion paper containing DNB’s preliminary views on the responsible use of AI in the financial sector. DNB believe that the issues and ideas outlined in this paper will benefit from broader debate, and therefore DNB welcomes…

Points of attention for AI in the insurance sector

July 26, 2019

On 25 July 2019, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) published a brochure on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the insurance sector (the AI Brochure). The AFM and DNB foresee a rapidly increasing use of AI in the Dutch insurance sector. Both regulators believe it is important that AI is deployed in a manner that is responsible and…

Public consultation on DNB’s revised guidance document on the Wwft and Dutch sanctions legislation