AFM imposes an order for incremental penalty payments on Farmfield

Farmfield offered consumers the possibility of investing in agricultural land in Romania. According to the website, www.farmfield.nl, the funds are used, inter alia, to purchase agricultural land in Romania. The Consumer Protection (Enforcement) Act obliges Farmfield to provide its investors, among other parties, with essential information. In order to be able to establish whether Farmfield is in compliance with this obligation, the AFM requested Farmfield to provide information concerning among other things:

• the offer it makes to consumers
• the communication directed towards investors
• Farmfield's financial position
• whether the funds raised were used in the manner indicated by Farmfield to the investors.

Farmfield has not provided the requested information within the term set. Farmfield has therefore been obliged to pay the penalty payments since 19 November 2014. The AFM has still not received the information. The incremental penalty payments increase by €5,000 subject to a maximum of €50,000 for every day company fails to comply with the order for incremental penalty payments.

What is an order for incremental penalty payments?

An order for incremental penalty payments is an instrument that is used to order (instruct) a company or person to perform or cease performing a certain act. If the order is not complied with within the term set, the company/person involved has to pay a sum of money. If this is the case, the AFM attempts to obtain information that is needed to perform an investigation into a possible violation.

If you have questions or complaints, please contact the AFM's Financial Markets Information Line: 0800-5400 540 (free of charge).