I have reported an unusual transaction. What happens now?
First of all, it is important that you observe confidentiality as set out in Article 23 of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft). This Article prescribes what is possible and what is not. Secondly, it is important to preserve data. When you report an unusual transaction, you will receive a confirmation of receipt from FIU-the Netherlands, which is the proof that you have actually reported one or more transactions. You must keep this confirmation and all other important details of the unusual transaction(s) for five years. Further information can be found in Article 34 of the Wwft .
As explained on the webpage About FIU-the Netherlands, we analyze unusual transactions to assess whether there is sufficient ground to declare them suspicious. If a transaction is declared suspicious, you will be informed of this: the so-called dissemination notification. It is important that you do not jump to conclusions based on this notice. For more information see the frequently asked question ‘’ I have received a Dissemination Notification. What does this mean?’’
You will not be notified if we do not declare an unusual transaction suspicious. However, we do save all unusual transactions for five years as the legislation dictates. So we can still declare transactions suspicious at a later date. For example, due to new reports.
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If your organization is registered with FIU-the Netherlands, it has a unique identity number for submitting reports: the Reporting ID. You can find the Reporting ID in the reporting portal under ‘My Reporting Details’.
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FIU-the Netherlands stores reports of unusual transactions in a highly secure and protected database, where they are classified as “State secret – secret”. This database can only be accessed by employees of FIU-the Netherlands whose position requires such access. Nobody else has access to the database. If analysis of a given unusual transaction reveals sufficient grounds to designate it suspicious, the suspicious transaction becomes police data, which can be accessed by the investigative, intelligence, and security services. This suspicious transaction is no longer classified as “State secret – secret”, but now falls under the Police Data Act (Wet Politiegegevens).
The investigative services can use a suspicious transaction in various ways, and depending on these uses, it may end up in a prosecution file. If the suspicious transaction is included in a prosecution file, safeguards are in place to protect the safety of the reporting entity. These safeguards were further strengthened by a motion (NL) adopted by the Dutch House of Representatives in 2020.
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On the basis of Articles 19 and 20 of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft), if entities with an obligation to report do so in good faith, correctly, in full, and in a timely manner, they have criminal indemnity and are not liable under civil law. This means that as a reporting party you cannot be held liable for any damage your customer may incur as a result of your report, for instance. In addition, data that you report to us in accordance with the standards may not be used against you in a criminal investigation.