Holland Financial Centre Launched

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

22 August 2007

The Holland Financial Centre (HFC), a new organization formed to promote the role of the Netherlands as an internationally attractive and strong financial center, was launched earlier this month, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) has announced.

The HFC, chaired by Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, the former chief of the Financial Markets Authority (AFM), creates a single point of contact for potential investors, and also allows for the quick, effective response to questions regarding regulations, policy, and general information relating to the financial markets, the NFIA said.

As part of the ten recommendations made by the group, the HFC is urging more flexibility in the allocation of voting and dividend rights. HFC is also suggesting that documents and communication with shareholders be in a language that is customary in international markets.

Participants in the HFC are the AFM, the Dutch central bank (DNB), the Finance, Social Affairs, Economic Affairs and Justice Ministries, Amsterdam city council, and major banks including ING, Aegon, Rabobank, KAS, ABN Amro and Fortis.

It is thought that the proposed takeover of ABN - the Netherlands' largest financial institution - by Barclays, in combination with growing foreign interest in the country's traditionally strong banking sector generally, has prompted the government to act to protect the interests of the country's financial industry.

Quoted by the UK's Daily Telegraph, Ronald Florisson, a spokesman for the HFC, said that the thinking behind the initiative was to ensure that "the Dutch financial sector remains strong, open and able to compete internationally".

"We know that for all countries there's a consolidation battle going on and we want to be proactive in this battle," Florisson explained to the Telegraph, concluding: "It's not about losing ground but gaining ground. About various forces in the Netherlands, like companies, pension funds, the government and regulatory authorities, working together."

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