The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) published an update that the Netherlands Accountants Chamber has declared wholly unfounded a disciplinary complaint filed by Momentum Capital in 2024 against two AFM supervisors who are registered accountants, Ton Meershoek and Marcus van Gestel. The chamber found the complainants had not made it plausible that the individuals had knowingly taken misleading or materially incorrect positions. In reaching its decision, the chamber assessed the conduct against the five fundamental principles in the Dutch Code of Ethics for Accountants (VGBA): professionalism, integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, and confidentiality. It noted that an accountant acting as a representative of a supervisory authority may take a position provided it rests on sufficient and sound research and a defensible interpretation of the research results and applicable law and regulation, and may rely on the expertise of colleagues in other disciplines such as lawyers and forensic specialists. The chamber also reiterated that the disciplinary complaint was not intended to re-run Momentum Capital’s dispute with the AFM, after earlier litigation over the AFM’s order subject to a penalty payment in which Momentum Capital was unsuccessful.

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