Dutch Parliament amends Financial Supervision Act – statutory right to businesses registered in the Netherlands to a basic bank account

26 October 2026

The Dutch Parliament passed an amendment to the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft) in May 2026. It is due to come into force on 1 January 2027, once the relevant commencement decree is published.

Under the amendment, Article 4:71k will introduce a statutory obligation on Dutch banks so they can only refuse to set up basic payment accounts in euros for EU businesses registered in the Netherlands under exceptional circumstances. Dutch banks are presently bound by this obligation in relation to consumers under the Wft.

The exceptional grounds for refusal are:

• Opening the account would breach a bank’s obligations under the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act;

• The applicant cannot demonstrate a genuine interest in opening the account;

• The applicant already has a bank account with another Dutch bank/ has a pending application for a basic payment account (or refuses to sign a declaration that this is not the case);

• The applicant’s basic payment account was terminated less than 2 years ago because it was intentionally used to commit a criminal offence;

• The applicant was convicted less than 8 years ago for forgery, fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, or money laundering and there is no possibility of appeal.

EU or Dutch sanctions, or the risk that the business be so sanctioned, do not feature on the list of exceptional grounds for refusal. The amendment does not affect asset banks’ asset freeze obligations in relation to designated entities under EU sanctions regimes.

In Gazprom International Projects BV v ING Bank NV C/13/794179 / KG ZA 26-837 LV/MV the Amsterdam District Court granted a provisional order prohibiting ING from terminating Gazprom’s euro account in the Netherlands on the basis of Gazprom’s prospective entitlement to a basic payment account with ING under Article 4:71k (see our coverage of the judgment).