Doing Business in the Netherlands 2012 - American Chamber of ...

22.3 Money Laundering
Pursuant to the Prevention of Money-Laundering and Financing of
Terrorism Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financiering van
terrorisme, the “Wwft”), certain Netherlands-based institutions
providing services that are deemed “sensitive” to money laundering or
terrorism financing activities on a professional basis (e.g., banks and
brokers, credit card companies, money transfer offices) or other
services involving, inter alia, the sale, or mediation in the sale, of
means of transport, precious stones and metals, objects of art,
antiquities, jewels and other precious objects to be designated by
governmental decree must report “unusual” transactions to the
Financial Intelligence Unit Nederland (FIU -Nederland), including
certain relevant details concerning the allegedly “unusual” transaction.
This includes, to the extent possible, the identity of the ultimate
beneficial owner of the transaction. Similar requirements apply to
certain other professionals, including attorneys, notaries and tax
advisors.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice has established certain specific
objective indicators to enable service providers to assess whether a
transaction must be deemed “unusual” and must be reported. In
addition to these specific indicators, a more general reporting ground
applies in the event that there are reasons to suspect that the
transaction is requested in relation to money laundering or the
financing of terrorist activities.
Without prejudice to the above, the aforesaid institutions and certain
professionals (such as attorneys, notaries and tax advisers) must also
establish and verify the identity of a client prior to the establishment
of the business relation with a client or prior to the provision of
incidental services involving a certain amount of money. In certain
cases, the identity of the ultimate beneficiary of the transaction must
also be established and verified. Specific rules (“enhanced client
investigation”) apply if a prospective client is a so-called “politically
exposed person” and in the event of suspicion that a prospective client
246 Baker & McKenzie