With the postponed Brexit date of 31 October 2019 rapidly approaching, this is a short update of relevant Dutch rules and regulations for the financial services industry to mitigate the negative consequences of a hard Brexit. This update does not cover EU-wide arrangements such as those on clearing and trading at regulated markets.
Coming to the Netherlands
In September the Netherlands Instute of International Relations “Clingendael” has published a database of companies that have moved or are in the process of moving, (part of) their business to the Netherlands with a view to a Brexit. Where the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency mentioned earlier that in August 2019 some 98 companies had opted for the Netherlands, the “Clingendael” institute now counts 56 companies moving 32 of which are financial sector companies. This group consists of trading venues, boutique trading firms and more traditional financials. No doubt depending on further Brexit developments more financials may follow. If they do, they may however benefit from the following regulations and may avoid moving for the purpose of market access.
UK investment firms
Investment firms domiciled in the UK providing services to professional clients in the Netherlands or dealing on own account in the Netherlands, may benefit from a new exemption from the Dutch licensing requirements for investment firms under MiFID II. Similar to the existing exemption for investment firms domiciled in the U.S., Switzerland and Australia, also UK investment firms may benefit from this exemption but only in case of a hard Brexit. In case of a deal on Brexit, this exemption will not enter into force. This exemption may be of a temporary nature only.
To benefit from this exemption the investment firm involved may only provide investment services to professional clients (such as Dutch institutional investors), must be subject to supervision by a competent supervisor (the FCA), and must register itself with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). This registration is of an administrative nature and can already be made prior to and conditional upon a hard Brexit. A registration fee of € 4,400 will be charged by the AFM in case registration will actually take place upon a hard Brexit.
A limited number of ongoing requirements applicable to Dutch licensed investment firms will apply upon registration. These requirements should not be burdensome for UK investment firms nowadays meeting the MiFID II requirements.
UK AIFMs
AIFMs domiciled in the UK may benefit from the existing Dutch private placement regime under AIFMD in case of a hard Brexit. In order to do so, marketing must be limited to qualified investors (such as Dutch institutional investors), the competent regulator (the FCA) has to confirm that it will be able to meet the obligations under the cooperation agreement with the AFM as recently agreed upon, and registration with the AFM has to take place by the AIFM. This registration is of an administrative nature and is free of charge.
Further to AIFMD, a limited number of ongoing requirements applicable to AIFMs will apply upon registration. These requirements should not be burdensome for UK AIFMs nowadays meeting the AIFMD requirements.
Other financial services sectors
Other than the EU-wide arrangements to mitigate the negative effects of a hard Brexit, there are no particular Dutch mitigation measures for other financial services sectors. As a result, other types of UK financial institutions will still have to take into account what part of their business in the Netherlands may be impacted by a hard Brexit. As a positive note it can be mentioned that in the meantime the Dutch regulators DNB and AFM have ample experience in handling authorization requests by UK financial institutions to set up a regulated Dutch business. As a result, while authorization remains to be a timeconsuming and expensive process, the benefit of an application at this stage is a smoother process than the initial applicants have gone through.
