Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act

The Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme or Wwft [Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act] entered into force on 1 August 2008. The Wwft implements the EU's Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive in Dutch national law and subsumes the pre-existing Wet identificatie bij dienstverlening or Wid [Identification (Provision of Services) Act] and the Wet melding ongebruikelijke transacties or 'Wet MOT' [Disclosure of Unusual Transactions (Services) Act]. The Wwft provides a comprehensive set of measures to prevent the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing.

This information refers to www.dnb.nl

Risk-based approach and open standards
The Wwft reflects a risk-based approach. This means that institutions must perform their own appraisal of the risks posed by individual clients or product, so that they may adapt their compliance efforts to those risks. The Wwft does not prescribe the manner in which an institution should achieve a certain goal, but only what goals should be achieved.

Client assessment
Client assessments constitute an important element in the set of measures available to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Whereas institutions must, in principle, comply with all client assessment measures, the intensity with which measures are applied may be adjusted to the risk posed by a certain type of client, relation, product or transaction.

Notification duty
Financial and other institutions that, in a professional capacity or on a commercial basis, provide certain (financial) services identified by the law, must notify any unusual transactions to FIU Nederland. Unusual transactions may be identified using the so-called list of indicators.

Supervision of compliance with the Wwft
DNB fulfils a statutory role in supervising compliance with the Wwft by institutions under its (prudential) supervision. DNB assesses and enforces the adequacy of the procedures and measures implemented by the institutions to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.