Collective investment schemes

Financial enterprises are covered by the supervision conducted by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. This supervision is focused on orderly and transparent financial market processes, integrity of relations between market players and due care in the provision of services to clients.

The supervision of financial enterprises is subject to the Act on Financial Supervision [Wet financieel toezicht] (Wft). This Act came into effect on 1 January 2007 and consists of six parts: General, Market Access for Financial Enterprises, Prudential Supervision of Financial Enterprises, Supervision of the Conduct of Financial Enterprises, Supervision of the Conduct of Financial Markets and the Supervision of Clearing and Settlement Systems.

The part on the Supervision of Clearing and Settlement Systems is to be added to the Act at a later date. The part on the Supervision of the Conduct of Financial Enterprises in the Wft contains rules which financial enterprises have to observe when providing their services, such as the rules for informing consumers (transparency) and the financial enterprises’ duty of care.

Collective investment schemes
Collective investment schemes are investment companies and unit trusts. The AFM is the licensing body for (the management companies of) collective investment schemes as referred to in the Wft. The following are a number of relevant issues within the framework of the Wft.