What is FIU-Netherlands

 According to the Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act (Wwft), the Financial Intelligence Unit-Netherlands is the authority to report suspicious transactions for organizations that are obliged to report.

About the Financial Intelligence Unit-The Netherlands

FIU-Netherlands analyzes suspicious and unusual transactions reported by organizations to reveal money flows that may be linked to money laundering, terrorism financing, or underlying crimes. Transactions are made available to various law enforcement and investigation services after they are declared suspicious by the FIU-Netherlands president.

The financial intelligence of FIU-Netherlands contributes significantly to the national and international Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing . Cooperation with national partners is essential for the authority body to be effective.

Money laundering and terrorism financing are cross-border problems that can only be effectively resolved in an international setting. Binding agreements have been made within the European Union and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to approach these problems. Dutch legislation is also based on international AML obligations and the European Union AML directives. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Law (Wwft) and the Netherlands have implemented the European Anti-Money Laundering Directive since 2015. This is the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/849) current EU legislation that simultaneously considers the 'forty recommendations' of the FATF.

What are the Institutions Obliged to Reporting?

In the Netherlands, organizations at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing must comply with AML laws and regulations. According to these laws, institutions should send their suspicious activities to the institution they are responsible for; as we mentioned above, this institution is the Financial Intelligence Unit-Netherland in the Netherlands. Below you can find the institutions that need to report in FIU-Netherland.

Accountants, real-estate, casinos, art dealers, legal service providers, banks, investment firms, professional or commercial providers of services for the exchange between virtual currencies and fiduciary currencies, payment service provider, electronic money entities, trust offices, civil-law notaries, valuers, money exchange entities, lawyers, tax advisors, life insurance brokers, undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities, natural or legal persons that but their address at another's disposal, life insurance, pawnshops, safe custody services, dealers in goods, Professional or commercial, providers of custodian wallets, investment entities, dealer or brokers in high-value goods, payment service broker, an entity that is not a bank, but carries out banking activities.

What is The Sanction for Not Being Reported?

According to the Wwft Law, the institutions we identified above must report transactions they suspect of crimes such as money laundering terrorism financing to the FIU-Netherlands. The only and central institution that can be reported in the Netherlands is FIU-Netherlands. Any organization that fails to report an unusual or suspicious transaction is guilty of infringing Wwft. When an organization fails to report intentionally or unintentionally, it is committing an economic crime with specific consequences under Section 1, sub 1 of the Dutch Economic Crimes Act.

Based on available information about an organization's reporting behavior, FIU-Netherlands can explore the issue further. If there is a possible failure to report, FIU-Netherlands can report this to the relevant supervisory authority. Under the Financial Supervision Act, supervisory authorities can impose a sanction, penalty, or fine if an organization fails to comply with the Wwft Act reporting obligations. Besides, the Public Prosecutor's Office may order a prosecution for failure to notify.

Get Know Closely Anti-Money Laundering Guide for the Netherlands