Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets
Autoriteit Financiële Markten
Agency overview
Formed March 2002 (2002-March)
Superseding agency
  • Securities Board of the Netherlands
Jurisdiction Kingdom of the Netherlands
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Employees 300
Agency executive
  • Merel van Vroonhoven, Chairman
Website http://www.afm.nl

The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Dutch: Autoriteit Financiële Markten) is the financial services regulatory authority for the Netherlands. Its role is comparable to the role of the SEC in the United States.

History

The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets was set up on 1 March 2002 as the successor to the Securities Board of the Netherlands (Dutch: Stichting Toezicht Effectenverkeer - STE). As part of the legislation that created the AFM, its responsibilities were greatly expanded to cover all financial products, including savings, investments, loans, insurance and accounting.[1]

The AFM falls under the political responsibility of the Minister of Finance but is an autonomous administrative authority, which means that the AFM operates autonomously based on the powers given by the Minister of Finance.

Responsibilities and operations

The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets is the body responsible for regulating behaviour on the financial markets in the Netherlands. This includes regulating the behaviour of all parties involved with the savings, loans, investment and insurance markets. It includes regulating all organisations that provide financial products and those that issue products, including stock exchanges.

The AFM has the following three aims:[2]

  1. making the financial markets more accessible
  2. promoting the smooth operation of the financial markets
  3. promoting confidence in the financial markets.

The public, the business sector and the government all depend on the financial products offered on the various markets for many of their activities. Confidence in the orderly and honest operation of these markets is therefore crucial.

The AFM works in conjunction with the De Nederlandsche Bank which is responsible for prudential regulation in the Netherlands.

Administration

The statutory board of the AFM consists of:

  • Merel van Vroonhoven (since April 2014, Chairman)[3]
  • Gerben Everts (since November 2012)
  • Femke de Vries (since October 2015)

Furthermore, Ellen van Schoten is COO since 1 October 2017.[3]

International

With the advent of Euronext stock exchange which is not only located in Amsterdam, but also in Paris, Brussels, London and Lisbon, the AFM works closely with the regulators in those other countries to regulate this cross border stock exchange.

The AFM is a member of the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), which is actively contributing to the harmonisation of financial regulation in Europe.

The AFM also participates in the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which brings together more than 80 securities regulators from all around the world.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets | AFM". www.afm.nl. Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  2. ↑ "Strategic objectives | What do we do? | AFM". www.afm.nl. Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  3. 1 2 "Members of the executive board AFM | Executive board of the AFM | AFM". www.afm.nl. Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
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