Netherlands

Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) is the independent financial market conduct regulator tasked with the supervision of the entire financial services sector in the Netherlands. AFM was established in 2002 to foster efficient and transparent financial markets, and it regulates deposits, investment, borrowing, pension, and insurance products. AFM performs its mandate from its main office in Amsterdam by supervising the interface between financial institutions and their customers, maintaining the integrity of the major European trading venues based in the Netherlands, and having the power to issue warnings, impose administrative fines, or suspend licenses as per the Wft.

The AFM regulates the operations of financial markets by overseeing the conduct and activities of all financial services firms in the country. It does not focus on ensuring the stability of banks, but rather implements consumer protection, transparency, and market integrity in savings, investments, borrowing, insurance, and pension markets. This is done by conducting assessments and issuing licenses to firms that meet certain conditions; it keeps checking financial products to ensure that they do not mislead consumers and by policing capital and trading markets to prevent any form of insider trading. In case there is a violation of regulatory boundaries, the AFM uses its full enforcement powers, ranging from public warnings to the imposition of fines and the revocation of licenses.