DNB's calls to only report "suspicious" transactions are rejected by Dutch Finance Minister

De Nederlandsche Bank, the country's central bank, has urged the Dutch finance minister, Sigrid Kaag, to concentrate on "suspicious transactions" rather than "unusual" ones.

"The reporting system in the Netherlands has been deliberately designed to be as accessible as possible, in order to relieve all gatekeepers (not just banks) as much as possible in conducting investigations into unusual transactions," Minister Kaag says in a letter to the House of Representatives.

"Reporting suspicious transactions entails additional burdens for gatekeepers," she continued.

DNB has stated that by concentrating on suspicious transactions, which gatekeepers now report to the nation's FIU, the effectiveness of reporting anomalous transactions can be boosted.

"This concerns transactions where there is reason to assume that they may be related to money laundering. FIU – the Netherlands is investigating these and are then provided to various (special) investigative services and intelligence agencies," according to Minister Kaag. 

The Finance Minister continued, acknowledging that the reporting process "could be more effective," but she insisted that the FIU of the nation possesses "more information such as information from other reports and criminal law information to analyse the reports of unusual transactions," as well as the ability to spot new patterns and determine whether a transaction is suspicious.

According to her, the government has recently made significant investments in the FIU, expanding the organization and stepping up efforts to "improve technology, knowledge and expertise in order to analyse unusual reports."

Although Minister Kaag stated that she would like to "enter into a discussion" with DNB to learn more about the context of its suggestion, she emphasized that the Dutch AML/CFT system has received numerous positive reviews and is considered to be "robust" by researchers.

In light of this, Minister Kaag stated, "The policy agenda for tackling money laundering therefore indicates that we see no reason for fundamental adjustments to the system. I am therefore not currently in favour of the revision of the reporting system suggested by DNB."

By fLEXI tEAM