Anti-money laundering rules expanded

Effective May 21, the anti-money laundering regulations have been expanded in several areas. For example, virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, now fall under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft), and the measures for transactions with clients in high-risk countries have been clarified in the law.

With the entry into force of the Implementation Act amending the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, virtual currencies are now subject to the Wwft. As a result, providers of exchange platforms or custodian wallets for virtual currencies in or from the Netherlands are now also subject to this law. Furthermore, the law clarifies the measures for high-risk countries and expands the cooperation options for supervisory authorities.

High-risk countries
Business relationships or transactions with clients in countries outside the EU designated as high-risk countries by the European Commission are subject to enhanced customer due diligence. Several additional measures have also been implemented. For example, notaries must also collect additional information about these clients and ultimate beneficial owners. This also applies to the purpose and nature of the business relationship and the source of the funds used (Article 9). All of this ensures equal treatment of these high-risk countries by the Member States.

UBO register
A significant change that the fifth anti-money laundering directive will bring is the introduction of a public UBO register. The UBO register will be housed within the Chamber of Commerce and implemented through a separate law. The bill for this is currently pending in the Senate. Until the UBO register is established, proof of registration of the ultimate beneficial owners of clients cannot be requested from the Trade Register.