Instruction issued to Amicorp Netherlands B.V. for insufficient customer due diligence and for not having an effective compliance function

Action against money laundering and terrorist financing is fundamental to the effective countering of serious crime. Trust offices have an important gatekeeper function in this regard. There is a risk that trust services could be misused for money laundering, terrorist financing or other socially improper behaviour. Based on the Act on the Supervision of Trust Offices (Wet toezicht trustkantoren – Wtt 2018), they are required to design their business operations so that they can effectively identify and manage integrity risks. To do so, it is important that trust offices know who their customers are, where the customers’ money comes from and why these customers need the trust office’s services. It is also important that the trust office has an effective ongoing monitoring process in place so that it can detect and report unusual transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-NL) in a timely manner. The trust office must also have an effective compliance function in order to internally monitor compliance with laws and regulations such as the Wtt 2018. Amicorp failed to fulfil its obligations with regard to conducting proper customer due diligence and having an effective compliance function.     

Customer due diligence and compliance function

We examined several of Amicorp's customer files and found deficiencies in all of them. The deficiencies relate to establishing the customer’s integrity risk profile, the origin of the object company's assets, the asset position of the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) and conducting continuous monitoring of the customer, among other things. On this basis, we concluded that Amicorp does not sufficiently identify the relevant integrity risks with respect to its customers, with the additional consequence that Amicorp is insufficiently able to take appropriate mitigating measures. At the same time, Amicorp serves customers with integrity risks and who operate in high-risk sectors or countries. Especially in the absence of an effective compliance function, this creates an increased risk of involvement in financial crime such as money laundering, terrorist financing or tax evasion.

Instruction

DNB's enforcement approach is primarily aimed at promoting compliance with the law. An instruction is an enforcement measure in which we order an institution to perform one or more prescribed actions aimed at terminating or redressing its non-compliance. In issuing the instruction to Amicorp, DNB took into account that a formal measure was appropriate for the severity, number and duration of the non-compliance found. The prescribed course of action in the instruction entails that Amicorp must bring all customer files into compliance with the relevant provisions of the Wtt 2018 by 30 June 2025 at the latest. Amicorp must also have an effective compliance function in place no later than 30 September 2024.

Objection

Amicorp did not lodge an objection against the instruction issued by DNB. 

Read the full instruction below (in Dutch), excluding confidential information. You can also contact our Information Desk by telephone at 0800 020 1068 (freephone in the Netherlands) or +31 20 524 9111 (if you call us from abroad).