Article 423

• 1

  If a financial firm advises a consumer or, if it is a financial instrument or insurance, client, or manages individual assets:

  • a.

    shall, in the interest of the consumer or client respectively, obtain information on their financial position, knowledge, experience, objectives and risk appetite to the extent reasonably relevant to its advice or management of individual assets;

  • b.

    ensures that its advice or method of managing individual assets is, so far as reasonably possible, based in part on the information referred to in subsection a; and

  • c.

    in the case of advice concerning financial products that are not financial instruments, explain the considerations underlying its advice to the extent necessary for a proper understanding of its advice.

• 2

  If, when providing a financial service that is not an investment service, a financial firm does not advise a consumer or, in the case of insurance, client, it shall make this known to the consumer or client respectively at the beginning of its activities on behalf of the consumer or client.

• 3

  If an investment firm advises a retail investor, it shall provide the retail investor with a suitability statement on a durable medium at the same time as the advice, or in any event before a transaction is effected, that specifies the advice and how it meets the preferences, investment objectives and other characteristics of the retail investor.

• 4

  If managing individual assets, the investment firm shall provide the retail investor with a periodic suitability statement addressing how the investment still meets the retail investor's preferences, objectives and other characteristics.

• 5

  If it involves advising or managing individual assets in combination with another financial service or financial product, the suitability assessment shall consider whether the entire service or the combination of the financial service and financial product is suitable. The first, second, and sixth paragraphs (new) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

• 6

  Rules may be established by or pursuant to general order in council with respect to:

  • a.

    the information referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and the manner in which this information is obtained;

  • b.

    the manner, referred to in paragraph 1 (b), in which an investment firm takes into account the information gathered when advising on financial instruments or managing individual assets;

  • c.

    The manner in which the explanation referred to in paragraph 1 (c) is given;

  • d.

    The manner in which the financial firm communicates to the consumer or customer respectively that it does not advise; and

  • e.

    the cases in which the information referred to in the third paragraph may be provided after the transaction has been carried out.

• 7

  The third paragraph and the provisions under or pursuant to the sixth paragraph, opening words and item e, shall apply mutatis mutandis to financial service providers advising a client on insurance with an investment component.

• 8

  The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets may, upon application, grant an exemption in whole or in part, for a limited period of time or otherwise, from the provisions under the sixth paragraph, insofar as they do not relate to advising on financial instruments or managing an individual's assets, if the applicant demonstrates that they cannot reasonably be complied with and that the purposes intended to be achieved by this article are otherwise achieved.