Research into the conflicting duties of banks and notaries

Client due diligence by banks and the confidentiality obligations of civil-law notaries sometimes conflict. Therefore, various ministries, the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB), the Dutch Banking Association (NVB), and supervisory bodies are investigating this issue and possible solutions.

The Royal Netherlands Bank for Enterprises (KNB) has sent a letter to the Minister of Justice and Security and the Minister for Legal Protection regarding the potential conflict between these two legal requirements. The Minister of Finance, Wopke Hoekstra, has received a copy. He made this known in response to written questions from Pieter Grinwis (Christian Union) regarding conflicts in the application of the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft).

Analysis
In his responses, Hoekstra states that he is analyzing the nature and scope of the problem together with the two other ministers involved—the Royal Dutch Bank (KNB), the Dutch Banking Association (NVB), and the supervisory bodies De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Financial Supervision Office (BFT). "This requires, among other things, a thorough legal analysis, because the obligation for banks to conduct adequate customer due diligence and the confidentiality obligation of civil-law notaries entail conflicting legal standards," he writes. He will inform the House of Representatives when the analysis has reached conclusions.