NETHERLANDS

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The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country, with 504 persons per km². Only 50% of its territory is more than one metre above sea level. It is among the richest countries in the world, with GDP per capita more than 50% above the EU average. The country benefits from a favourable geographical location, being at the centre of Europe’s wealthiest region. Trade is crucial for the Netherlands. The seaport of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and Schiphol International Airport is the third busiest airport in Europe, both in passenger terms and cargo volume. Exports of goods and services made up more than 80% of GDP in 2019. However, due to the large share of re-exports, the contribution of exports to GDP is limited to around 30%.

The importance of industrial activity has declined. In 2000, the manufacturing sector accounted for 15% of value added. By 2020, its share had declined to about 12%. Gas exploration has substantially declined due to production limitations after a series of mini-earthquakes in Groningen. The share of the mining sector in GDP declined to less than 0.5% in 2020 compared with 3.8% in 2008. By contrast, the share of public sector, including education and health, increased to 22% in 2018, a gain of 4 percentage points since 2000.

As an open economy, the Netherlands has responded well to the challenges of globalisation. More than 20% of employees have flexible working arrangements, which is among the highest in the EU. A third of these are on-call employees. As a result, the unemployment rate, at 3.4% in 2019, is one of the lowest in the EU.

Thanks to its favourable fiscal environment and excellent infrastructure, the Netherlands is home to many multinational corporations. It is also an important financial centre. Since Brexit, Amsterdam has ousted London as Europe’s top share trading hub. The banking sector had accumulated assets of 340% of GDP by end 2020, while private pension fund assets were worth around 215% of GDP, the highest in the OECD. Almost all pension funds have funding ratios between 105% and 135%.

Since October 2017, the country has been governed by a centre-right coalition, consisting of the business-friendly liberal VVD party, the progressive liberal D66 party and the Christian democratic parties, CDA and Christian Union. Mark Rutte (VVD) is Prime Minister, a position that he has held since 2010 in three different coalition governments. In January 2021, the government resigned over a childcare subsidies scandal, but continued to run the affairs in a caretaker capacity. The general election held in March 2021 were won by the liberal parties VVD and D66. However, these parties have failed until now to form a coalition that has a majority in the second chamber of parliament.

Summary

The Netherlands is a major market for BNP Paribas and the bank provides a comprehensive range of services to institutional customers including instant payments. BNP Paribas' corporate and financial institution customers are supported from three business centres in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven. Amsterdam is BNP Paribas' largest cash concentration hub in Europe, leveraging the right of set-off permitted under Dutch law.

Currency

  • Euro (EUR).

Bank accounts

  • A company is generally considered resident in the Netherlands if its place of effective management is located there or it is incorporated under Dutch law.

Factoring

  • Legal base for factoring: pledge or assignment with transfer of legal ownership. 
  • In NL it is possible to take over the ownership of the bank account of a client (ING/RABO/ABN), which facilitates directing the payment flow of debtors towards the factor. 
  • Specific industries (interim labour and construction) need to operate a specific bank account (G-account) on which debtors need to pay social charges.

BNP Paribas Cash Management Capabilities

Cash collections
Cheque collections
Direct debit collections
Domestic incoming transfers
Virtual IBAN
Virtual accounts
International incoming transfers
Card acquiring

Payments & collections

Electronic credit transfers are the most commonly used payment instruments by companies to make supplier, payroll and tax payments. Card payments, especially debit card payments, are increasing, aided by the high level of adoption of contactless payments: the share of contactless payments using payment cards had increased to 85% by end 2020. Digital and mobile payments are also increasing in popularity.

Electronic banking services are available from all banks. There is no national electronic banking standard in the Netherlands, so companies use banks’ proprietary services. Multinational companies also use the SWIFT for Corporates messaging standards. Transaction and balance reporting, automated end-of-day sweeping, and transaction initiation services are available on a domestic and cross-border basis.

The online SEPA-compliant iDEAL application is offered by the leading Dutch banks for secure purchases via credit transfer. It is available in all mobile banking apps. In 2020, there were 890 million transactions via iDEAL (667 million 2019), with a value of EUR 70 billion (EUR 53.4 billion 2019).

Mobile and internet banking services are provided by Netherlands’s leading banks. In 2020, there were 519 million mobile banking transactions (643 million in 2019), with a value of EUR 232 billion (EUR 201 billion 2019). There were 511 million internet banking transactions (465 million in 2019), with a value of EUR 2.33 billion (1.84 billion 2019).

Short term investments

Interest payable on credit balances

Interest-bearing current accounts are permitted for residents and non-residents denominated in EUR or foreign currency.

Demand deposits

  • Demand deposits denominated in EUR or major foreign currencies are available to both residents and non-residents.

Time deposits

  • Time deposits are available in EUR or major foreign currencies for terms of one night to more than one year.
  • Time deposits pay fixed or floating interest.

Certificates of deposit

  • Domestic commercial banks issue certificates of deposit.

Treasury (government) bills

  • The Dutch State Treasury Agency issues Dutch Treasury Certificates (DTCs), for terms of three, six, nine and 12 months.

Commercial paper

  • Domestic commercial paper is issued by companies, financial institutions and public authorities with terms ranging from one month to two years. The minimum investment is EUR 500,000.

Money market funds

  • Domestic money market funds are available.

Repurchase agreements

  • Collateralised loans (belening) are available.

Banker's acceptances

  • Banker's acceptances are not used.

BNP Paribas Trade Finance Capabilities

Documentary credits
Documentary collections

International trade

  • As a member of the EU, the Netherlands follows the EU customs code and applies all associated regulations and commercial policies.
  • Trade with other countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland is exempt from tariffs and other controls.