Plans to tighten the fight against money laundering

Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag, together with Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, have submitted a bill to Parliament with an action plan to combat money laundering. This plan includes several new steps to streamline and tighten AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism) procedures.

Step #1. Prohibition to pay in cash for goods from 3000 euros

Cash plays an important role in money laundering. In particular, the ban on paying in cash, if the amount exceeds 3000 euros, applies to pawnshops and art dealers, to transactions in the Netherlands and from the Netherlands.

Step #2. Joint monitoring by banks of customer transactions

Criminals often place deposits in different banks in order to remain undetected. The ability for banks to jointly monitor their customers' transactions will enable them to better detect unusual transaction patterns and more effectively prevent money laundering.

Note! According to the recommendations of the State Council (Raad van State), joint monitoring will be carried out taking into account the rules for protecting customer data. The bill as a whole puts a lot of emphasis on privacy. After four years, it is planned to evaluate the effectiveness of measures to ensure confidentiality for clients.

Step #3. Exchange of specific risks between institutions

Financial monitoring (AML/CFT procedures) is built on a risk-based approach – the distribution of clients by risk level. At the same time, each institution conducts its own financial monitoring of customers who make purchases or order services.

By exchanging specific risks that may point to criminals, institutions get rid of double work. However, even in this case, they must respect the privacy of customers and not share information more than necessary.

Publication Date: 29.11.2022