Forex Brokers in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, forex brokers are referred to as investment firms and only those having obtained a licence from the Dutch regulatory agency AFM (Autoriteit Financielle Markten) may offer investment services and/or perform investment activities within the country. Most importantly, offshore Forex brokers looking to offer forex trading services to residents of the Netherlands, need to establish local branches and to obtain the required licenses for the said branch before they can get down to business.
Of course, an exception applies to forex brokers that are licensed in another country of the European Economic Area (EEA) (consisting of the Member States of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). They can offer investment services and/or perform investment activities in the Netherlands relying on their single European license and are subject to supervision in their country of origin, but they must report this to their home supervisor.
Interestingly, the AFM does not provide broad-based licensing to brokers. Instead, it has special codes in place for each specific type of activity and the issued licenses shall cover only the types of activity the company should provide.
Apart from the licensing process of forex brokers in the Netherlands, the AFM is in charge of ongoing supervision over licensed entities. It works together with the central bank of Netherlands (DNB), in which context the AFM supervises the conduct of financial enterprises, and DNB checks whether they are able to meet their financial obligations.
The Dutch financial regulator requires full transparency on the part of the licensed FX brokers. In this regard, the latter are compelled to send regular reports to the AMF with data about their trading volumes and the transactions performed by their clients.
Besides, the AFM keeps a register of all licensed Forex companies in Netherlands on its official website and it is easy for anyone interested in to quickly check whether a particular company is listed. In this register, you can also see if there are any past or current issues with their licensing and general practices, such as if the broker has been licensed subject to a restriction or a condition.
In February 2017 the Dutch financial regulatory body launched a consultation on the ban on advertisement of risky investment instruments, such as binary options, contracts for difference (CFDs), futures and warrants. The regulator’s move is an important step in the fight against harmful financial products to which retail consumers are exposed, and most importantly those with leverage of 10:1 or higher.
