Minister Van Weyenberg of Finance and Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius of Justice and Security have informed the House of Representatives in a letter that they wish to proceed with the ban on cash payments above €3,000. This ban is part of the bill to tackle money laundering that was previously declared controversial by the Lower House. If the ban on cash payments above €3,000 does not go through, the Netherlands may risk losing €600 million in European money. A legal limit on cash payments is included in the Council Implementing Decision for the Dutch Recovery and Resilience Plan (HVP). The deadline to implement this measure is March 31, 2025.
The letter outlines several scenarios to follow up on the Money Laundering Bill. With the cash limit, the ministers want to tackle money laundering by criminals. These often use large sums of cash for this purpose. Because of the obligation in the HVP, its introduction cannot be further delayed. In addition, the European AML package (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, AML/CFT), which will become applicable in 2027, has created a new context because all four provisions of the bill in its current form are incompatible with the AML package.
Ministers' preference for the time being is to only bring the limit on cash payments further via a bill of amendment to the original bill, thus avoiding the possible 600 million euro cut.
In this scenario, the other measures from the Money Laundering Bill, such as joint transaction monitoring, are included in the implementation process of the European AML package. A total of four possible scenarios have been worked out for the follow-up to the Money Laundering Action Plan bill. The ministers indicate that they intend to discuss this with the Chamber during the Commission debate on April 24.
European legislative process
The European legislative process surrounding the AML package has not yet been formally completed. The European Parliament's vote on this bill is scheduled for April 24, 2024. Ultimately, European countries have three years to implement the legislative package. The regulations will become applicable in the spring of 2027.
Parliament letter on concurrence AML package and money laundering plan bill (1)
(1) https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2024/04/16/samenloop-aml-pakket-en-wetsvoorstel-plan-van-aanpak-witwassen
