The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets has updated its policy for determining administrative fines, effective Oct. 15, 2026. The policy retains the structure of the 2021 framework but incorporates legislative changes, recent case law and revised views on penalty levels. Most changes are technical or clarifying, while providing greater scope to tailor fines and a clearer method for larger companies in more serious cases. The statutory base amount will serve only as a broad starting point, allowing the authority to depart substantially from it where necessary. The seriousness of an infringement may support a significant increase or reduction. Where legislation sets only a maximum fine based on a percentage of annual net turnover, such as 10%, 15% or 20%, the starting point for more serious cases will be three to 10 times the base amount, depending on the company’s size. The resulting fine may then be reduced on proportionality grounds.
Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets updates fining policy to expand tailoring and simplify turnover based penalties
The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets has updated its administrative fining policy, effective Oct. 15, 2026, to provide greater scope for tailored penalties. For more serious cases involving larger companies, turnover based fines will start at three to 10 times the base amount depending on company size, subject to possible proportionality reductions.