The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published its AML/CFT progress report for the Netherlands. Highlights from this report are shared below.
The Netherlands’ primary ML risks are related to fraud and drug trafficking, while its main TF risks are related to religious extremism as well as extreme right-wing terrorism. The FATF has acknowledged that the Netherlands has a good understanding of these risks and is equipped with effective risk-based strategies to tackle them. Yet, there are some technical deficiencies that the country must address, such as the regulation of virtual asset service providers.
The FATF has identified domestic inter-agency coordination and public-private partnerships as well as international cooperation as important features of the Netherlands’ AML/CFT framework. However, the country must invest more resources towards risk-based supervision, address unlicensed activity, and ensure adequate sanctions for non-compliance. The Netherlands must also work towards preventing legal persons from being used for criminal purposes. The country must also ensure access to accurate and latest beneficial ownership information.
Further, the FATF report mentions that the Netherlands collaborates proactively with the non-profit sector to ensure that this sector is not misused for TF. However, it is also important that the country focuses on the timely implementation of targeted financial sanctions against TF.
Source: FATF
