Together with the market

The AFM soon discovered that a good dialogue with all stakeholders is essential. After its launch in 2002, Arthur Docters van Leeuwen immediately invited all relevant stakeholders to come and visit the AFM, giving them an idea of the work of a supervisor and an opportunity to tell us what they themselves believed was important. We have moved to a more structured – and possibly more mature – dialogue since then.

Dialogue is inextricably bound up with our risk-based approach to supervision; after all, that approach depends on our ability to keep track of the market and get market players on board to prevent harmful behaviour. The dialogue particularly reflects two of our core values: connective and diligent. However, these must be balanced with our two other core values: autonomous and thorough. While we seek collaboration, we will not hesitate to opt for strict enforcement if necessary. And while we ask parties to provide input for our agenda, it is the AFM that sets the agenda. In this context, Docters van Leeuwen once famously said: ‘You don't talk with prisoners about how thick the bars should be’.

Advisory panel

In the Netherlands, the AFM engages in dialogue in a variety of ways and with various groups: the institutions under supervision (and their umbrella organisations), consumers and public stakeholders (government ministries and other supervisory authorities). One type of dialogue enshrined in the law is the Advisory Panel of Representative Organisations. The panel includes some 15 organisations, such as the Dutch Association of Insurers, the Dutch Banking Association, Dufas, the Federation of the Dutch pension Funds, the Association of Stockholders and the Consumers’ Association.

Direct contacts

The Advisory Panel meets at least twice a year for formal plenary consultation and to discuss sub-themes in break-out groups. These meetings are important opportunities for us to understand how stakeholders experience our supervision and what its consequences are. In addition to this formal consultation platform, we increasingly communicate directly with market parties, including the most important companies in the sector. Through two committees, the Committee for Financial Reporting and Accountancy and the Capital Markets Committee, we seek advice from experts in the field and from the academic community.

New groups

We appreciate the possibility to conduct the dialogue with umbrella organisations, since this enables us to reach the entire sector in one go. By the same token, individual companies know they are properly represented in this arrangement. In recent years, however, due to ongoing digitalisation and internationalisation, more and more parties have emerged that are not covered by umbrella organisations and are also, in many cases, beyond the scope of our supervision. The ‘finfluencers’ are good example. We have invited these parties individually for informative sessions so as to include them in the dialogue. After all, we want to have constructive discussions with those new groups as well.

Contributions from consumers

Our mission is to ensure long-term financial well-being in the Netherlands. This means we are also interested in identifying any obstacles that prevent the financial well-being of consumers. We have been systematically studying this since 2004, initially with the Consumer Monitor and later, from 2014 onwards, through the AFM Consumer Panel. In this panel, thousands of people give us feedback on a variety of issues. These signals from consumers are hugely important for us. We also receive many telephone calls from consumers; in such cases we sometimes have to disappoint callers by explaining that we cannot help them solve their individual problems, although we do record each issue as a sign of a potential shortcoming.

Public stakeholders

The third important group we contact on a regular basis are public stakeholders, and especially the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the House of Representatives and other supervisory authorities. Some of those contacts are required by law. For example, the AFM's annual budget is subject to the approval of the ministries concerned. The relationship with other supervisory authorities is becoming more and more relevant to us, as the boundaries between previously distinct areas of supervision are increasingly blurred. And there are major synergies to be obtained, for instance when it comes to the use of technology and how we approach the labour market. This also includes increasing collaboration with other supervisory authorities, for example through our Market Supervisors Consultation Platform (MTB).