compliancefunctionarissen

Compliancefunctionarissen are professionals within organizations responsible for ensuring that the organization complies with applicable laws, regulations and internal policies, with a focus on financial regulation, integrity and risk management. They act as independent advisers to the board and management, overseeing processes to prevent violations and to detect and respond to compliance failures. The term is used in Dutch corporate governance and is common in financial institutions, banks, insurers and asset managers.

Responsibilities typically include developing and maintaining compliance policies and procedures, conducting risk assessments, monitoring adherence to rules, providing staff training, and coordinating due diligence and client onboarding (KYC/CDD). They also oversee identification and reporting of suspicious activity to the national authorities or the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-Nederland), and ensure proper escalation of breaches to management and regulators. The compliance functionaris liaise with risk management, internal audit, legal and HR, and must have independence from day-to-day business to maintain objectivity.

In the Netherlands, the Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme (Wwft) and related regulations require many financial institutions to appoint a compliance functionaris or an equivalent compliance body, with the function having direct access to the board and adequate resources to fulfill its duties. The role is distinct from the data protection officer (functionaris voor gegevensbescherming) under the GDPR, though some organizations may host both roles. See also AML/CFT, Wwft, Wft, AFM, DNB.