Dutch minister declines to create alternative bank disciplinary body

Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen has declined to develop an independent alternative to the country’s banking disciplinary body, saying he wants to give the sector’s planned replacement a chance first. Speaking after the cabinet meeting on 25 September, he said he regretted the existing foundation’s decision to stop, ANP reported. [1]

Stichting Tuchtrecht Banken (STB) was established after the banking crisis to assess complaints about breaches of the bankers’ oath. It has urged Heinen to provide an independent alternative, arguing that banks should never have been made responsible for organising disciplinary oversight. [1] [2]

In criticism reported by Accountancy Vanmorgen, STB said banks refer almost exclusively obvious integrity breaches, often involving employees already dismissed or facing criminal prosecution. Referrals involving staff still working at a bank, or managers, were rare or absent, it said. The foundation argues that these practices marginalise the disciplinary system. [3] [1]

Some disciplinary adjudicators stopped work in April over a proposal by the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) that STB believed would further weaken oversight. Subsequent talks failed to resolve the dispute, Accountancy Vanmorgen reported. [3]

The NVB said revised disciplinary rules and a reporting policy had been prepared following an evaluation by the University of Groningen, but had not won STB’s support. The association also welcomed the resumption of disciplinary hearings. [3]

The banking association has been working since summer 2026 on a replacement system called Tuchtrecht 2.0. It says the system should address misconduct for which individual bank employees can be held responsible, rather than general bank policy or wider societal debates about the sector. [3]