Pursuant to the Dutch Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (WWFT), civil-law notaries are obliged to conduct customer due diligence and to investigate the origin of funds for specific transactions. The civil-law notary also has a duty to report when there is a suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing. This obligation applies, among other things, to transactions involving immovable property, such as a home or business premises.

All clients who wish to have such a transaction carried out by the notary must first personally identify themselves and have their identity verified with the help of a valid and original identity document. Depending on the extent of the risk entailed by a particular client or transaction, the notary is obliged to carry out further investigations. This applies, for example, to clients who occupy a politically exposed position. For legal entities such as an association, foundation or BV, the ultimate beneficial owner has to be verified. We ask these business clients to provide a UBO statement.

If a client deposits money into an account of the notary, we are obliged to check the origin of these funds. In addition, as a civil-law notary, we are not allowed to accept amounts above € 2,500 in cash.

The notary is obliged to report unusual transactions that may have to do with money laundering or funding of terrorism at the reporting point of unusual transactions, officially called FIU-Nederland. The notary may not, according to the law, inform his client of a notification.

Clients who use their own resources (for example savings) for a transaction must be able to demonstrate how they obtained the money. In addition, legal entities should ensure that their registration in the trade register is correct and complete (for example, registration of the correct directors and authorized representatives) and must use their own current accounts for transactions. The lawyers and civil-law notaries of Marks Wachters are happy to assist you with questions or in case of doubts about a specific transaction.