Investor compensation scheme – funding and reporting

Financial institutions licensed to provide investment services in the Netherlands participate in the Dutch investor compensation scheme (BCS). DNB requires them to pay financial contributions and to report on the value of their non-professional customers’ investment value.

Contributions to the fund

Financial institutions licensed in the Netherlands to provide investment services automatically participate in the investor compensation scheme under the Decree on Special Prudential Measures, Investor Compensation and Deposit Guarantees under the Wft (Besluit bijzondere prudentiële maatregelen, beleggerscompensatie en depositogarantie Wft – Bbpm). A fund has been created for non-bank financial institutions, to which the participating financial institutions contribute. Newly licensed financial institutions are required to pay a one-off €5,000 entry fee to the fund. The fund is administered by Stichting Beleggers Compensatiefonds (SBC) and DNB provides support to SBC in carrying out its tasks.

Investment undertakings that provide services (exclusively) to professional investors

Although professional investors are not eligible for compensation under the investor compensation scheme, investment undertakings that provide services (exclusively) to professional investors must contribute to the fund by paying the entry fee to the fund. After all, these financial institutions may also, perhaps inadvertently and/or without the appropriate licence, provide services to retail investors. Payment of the entry fee prevents a situation from occurring in which affected investors claim compensation under the investor compensation scheme, even though the financial institution itself made no contribution to it.

Investor compensation scheme reporting inquiry

DNB requires financial institutions participating in the investor compensation scheme to report annually on the value of the investments of their non-professional customers. This is to gain insight into the covered assets and any trends. The submissions for 2026 are for reference dates 31 March 2025, 30 June 2025, 30 September 2025 and 31 December 2025. They must be submitted via MyDNB – Reporting Service. The submission deadline is 13 March 2026.

Investor compensation scheme

The investor compensation scheme acts as a safety net in case a financial institution providing investment services gets into difficulties, resulting in the breach of the segregation of assets. For example, if the institution goes bankrupt, it may be unable to return its customers’ financial instruments and funds. Find out how the investor compensation scheme works and what conditions apply.

Relevant laws and regulations

  • Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht – Wft): Paragraph 3.5.6.1, more specifically Sections 3:258–3:265
  • Decree on Special Prudential Measures, Investor Compensation and Deposit Guarantees under the Wft (Besluit bijzondere prudentiële maatregelen beleggerscompensatie en depositogarantiestelsel Wft), Chapter 6, more specifically Sections 8 to 17, 24 to 29 and 29a to 29j
  • Directive 97/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 March 1997 on investor compensation schemes
Beleggerscompensatie