EMI licence in the Netherlands — the DNB application
An EMI licence in the Netherlands — the DNB application — is one of the more accessible licensing paths in the EU for an English-language applicant team. The legal framework sits in the Wet op het financieel toezicht (Wft), transposing EMD2 into Dutch law. DNB accepts English-language files, pre-application engagement is well-developed, and the realistic end-to-end timeline is six to nine months for a well-prepared first-time applicant. But accessibility is not leniency: DNB’s substance test and its individual fit-and-proper interviews are among the more demanding in the EU. This piece walks through the dossier, the Dutch specifics, and how the regime connects to FIU-Nederland, the Banking Information Reference Portal and CESOP reporting.
1. Who grants and who supervises
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is the competent authority for e-money institutions: it assesses the application, decides on grant, and remains prudential and AML-framework supervisor afterwards. FIU-Nederland receives unusual-transaction reports (UTRs) through goAML. Where the EMI also offers investment services or distributes investment products, the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) is involved on the conduct side. The Dutch AML statute is the Wwft, and note the Dutch peculiarity: the reporting standard is unusual transactions, a broader trigger than the suspicious-transaction standard used in most member states.
2. Legal basis
- Directive 2009/110/EC (EMD2) — the EU e-money framework
- Wet op het financieel toezicht (Wft) — the licensing and supervision seat for elektronischgeldinstellingen
- Besluit prudentiële regels Wft (Bpr) — the prudential implementing decree
- Wwft — the Dutch AML/CTF act
- DNB authorisation policy and the EBA Guidelines on authorisation information
3. Who can apply
- A Dutch-incorporated entity — BV or NV — with genuine substance in the Netherlands
- Initial capital of at least €350,000, fully paid up at grant
- Fit-and-proper dagelijks beleidsbepalers (day-to-day policymakers) tested individually by DNB
- Qualifying shareholders cleared through the declaration-of-no-objection process
- A complete file — accepted in English or Dutch
4. What goes in the application file
Core blocks:
- Programme of operations — products, customer journey, channels, geographies
- Business plan — three-year projections, capital trajectory, profitability
- Governance map — board, policymakers and key function holders, with per-individual testing files
- Internal control — risk management, compliance and internal audit as distinct functions
- ICT and operational resilience — aligned with DORA
- Safeguarding model — segregated account at a credit institution or insurance backing
- AML/CTF programme — the Wwft framework, SIRA-style risk assessment, designated compliance officer and FIU-NL reporting contact
- Outsourcing register with the Article 30 DORA clauses for ICT
- Conduct framework — complaints, marketing communications, fee transparency
- Shareholder structure — direct and indirect, with declarations of no objection for qualifying holdings
5. DNB’s pre-application engagement
DNB operates a dedicated fintech contact point (its Fintech Office / InnovationHub function) that engages with applicants before a formal filing. The pre-application meeting surfaces structural concerns — group topology, substance, safeguarding design — while they are still cheap to fix, and calibrates expectations on both sides. For a first-time applicant it is essentially mandatory in practice, even though nothing in the Wft requires it.
6. Own funds: the calculation DNB checks
EMD2 sets the €350,000 floor. Ongoing own funds are the higher of the floor and the calculated requirement — for e-money issuance, at least 2% of average outstanding electronic money, plus a separate payment-services component where the EMI provides payment services not connected to e-money.
Facts: an applicant projects average outstanding e-money of €25 million by the end of year three, with no unrelated payment services.
What the rule says: 2% of €25 million is €500,000 — well above the €350,000 floor, so the year-three own-funds requirement is €500,000.
What the practitioner does: shows the own-funds line month by month in the business plan, capitalises with a buffer above the curve, and documents how average outstanding e-money will be measured. DNB reads the projections against the capital plan; a business plan that grows the float without growing own funds is a standard rejection trigger.
7. Geschiktheid and betrouwbaarheid
DNB tests every policymaker and supervisory-board member on two axes: geschiktheid (suitability — knowledge, skills, professional behaviour) and betrouwbaarheid (integrity). Each individual submits a CV evidencing regulated-sector experience, a Dutch criminal-record certificate (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag) or foreign equivalents covering the past ten years of residence, a declaration of other functions, and references where applicable. DNB interviews policymakers before grant; interviews can be in English.
Facts: a foreign group proposes a CEO relocating to Amsterdam and a CFO who will remain abroad and “visit regularly”, covering the role remotely.
What comes back: the substance and suitability assessment will challenge the CFO arrangement — day-to-day policymakers are expected to actually run the business from the Netherlands, and a remote C-suite pattern reads as a letterbox indicator.
What the practitioner does: restructures before filing — either the CFO relocates, or a Netherlands-based policymaker takes the finance mandate with the group CFO in a support role. Fixing this after a negative interview is far more expensive than fixing it in the org chart.
8. Realistic timing
The statutory review under the Wft is thirteen weeks from a complete file, with the clock suspended while DNB’s information requests are outstanding. That suspension is where timelines are actually decided.
Facts: an applicant files a file it knows is 90% ready, planning to “complete it during the process”, and receives a first-round information request covering safeguarding evidence and two testing files.
What the rule says: the review clock pauses while the request is open; three such rounds can turn thirteen weeks into most of a year.
What the practitioner does: files only when the file is genuinely complete, pre-clears the difficult annexes in the pre-application meeting, and answers information requests once, completely, rather than in fragments. Well-prepared applicants land in the six-to-nine-month end-to-end range.
9. The Dutch file at a glance
| Item | Position in the Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Competent authority | DNB (prudential + AML framework); AFM if investment services; FIU-NL for UTRs |
| Legal form / capital | Dutch BV or NV; €350,000 initial capital |
| Language | English or Dutch file accepted |
| Statutory review | Thirteen weeks from a complete file, clock paused during information requests |
| Realistic timing | Six to nine months end-to-end |
| AML standard | Wwft — unusual transaction reporting to FIU-NL via goAML |
10. What switches on at grant
- DNB statistical reporting (BSI, MIR where applicable)
- DNB Digitaal Loket Rapportages (DLR) — the supervisory reporting channel
- FIU-NL UTR reporting through goAML
- Banking Information Reference Portal connection — mandatory before issuing Dutch IBANs
- CESOP reporting where cross-border thresholds are met
- IPR statistical report
- Conduct and complaints obligations under the Kifid / AFM framework
11. FAQ
Can I really file in English?
Yes. DNB accepts English-language application files, and fit-and-proper interviews can be conducted in English. The substantive Dutch presence must still be real.
What is a dagelijks beleidsbepaler?
A “day-to-day policymaker” — a senior individual with executive authority over the firm’s policy, typically the C-suite. Each one is tested individually by DNB on suitability and integrity.
How much capital do I need?
€350,000 initial capital, the EMD2 floor. Ongoing own funds are the higher of the floor and the calculated requirement, so a growing e-money float pushes the number up.
Is the Netherlands a “fintech-friendly” jurisdiction?
DNB engages openly pre-application and works in English, which lowers friction. The substantive standard under EMD2 is the same as anywhere in the EU — the file quality and substance requirements are not lighter.
What board structure does DNB expect?
Two-tier (executive plus supervisory board) is common for larger structures; one-tier with non-executives is also accepted. Either way, every named individual goes through testing.
What is the Banking Information Reference Portal?
The Dutch account-information reference system that institutions issuing Dutch IBANs must connect to. Plan the connection alongside the licence — see our Reference Portal piece.
12. What to do, today
- Founders: book the DNB pre-application meeting before drafting — structural feedback is cheapest before the file exists.
- Cosec / HR: confirm the Dutch vehicle, policymaker residency and relocation plans; substance defects are org-chart problems, not drafting problems.
- CFO: model own funds against projected outstanding e-money and capitalise above the curve.
- CTO: start the Reference Portal connection workstream in parallel if Dutch IBANs are in the launch plan.
- MLRO: build the Wwft programme around the unusual-transaction standard and the goAML flow, and map the full post-grant reporting catalogue (DLR, BSI, CESOP, IPR) before submission.
Related: Where to base your EMI · How to launch Dutch IBANs · Banking Information Reference Portal · The DNB SIRA (integrity risk analysis) · Safeguarding compared across the EU · Own funds and initial capital for PIs and EMIs
