Banks check Dutch people with a non-Western migration background for suspicious transactions more often than citizens of full Dutch descent. This is what Medy van der Laan, chairman of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) says. against newspaper Fidelity. According to van der Laan, this has to do with the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft) that banks must adhere to, which requires them to investigate transactions with countries on high-risk lists to stand. The NVB announced on Friday “to increase efforts to exclude discrimination.”
The announcement comes after a research conducted by EY requested by the NVB. This showed that half of the banks in the Netherlands have received complaints about discrimination. At the same time, the banks indicate that their experiences of discrimination are “very limited”, says a spokesperson for the NVB.
Contradictory to previous findings
The latter is not entirely in line with the observations made by the National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism last year. Rabin Baldewsingh then sounded the alarm after receiving various documents indicating that Muslims are ‘structurally discriminated against’ by banks.
The banks attribute the gap between the findings and the National Coordinator’s observations to two possible causes. According to them, it could be due to the lack of confidence that customers may have in their bank, which makes them reluctant to report it. In addition, language barriers could play a role.
Banks have announced that they will enter into discussions with Islamic interest groups. The NVB is also discussing joining the national reporting point for discrimination, “Banks have a social responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to payment transactions. There is no room for discrimination.” said chairman Van der Laan.
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