Compulsory checks by notaries
The Dutch Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme) came into force on 1 August 2008. This Act requires notaries to perform additional checks of people visiting notaries' offices and also of the transactions they request.
A notary has to check your identity. This means you have to show a valid passport, identity card or driving licence when you visit our offices. You will also need to show proof of identity if you sign a deed or contract at our offices.
A notary has to report any unusual transactions to the Office for the Disclosure of Unusual Transactions. This also applies to transactions that have not yet been executed.
Under the rules of the notarial profession, notaries are not allowed to accept cash payments of more than € 2,500 and must report any actual or intended cash payments in excess of € 2.500). This also applies if a client transfers cash to a notary's account or if a notary pays out or has a bank pay out more than the amount mentioned, at a client's request.
If more than the aforementioned amount is paid in cash or if such a payment is considered, the notary must report this. This will be the case if the client deposits the cash in a notary's account. (A cash deposit into the notary's account is considered a cash payment) There is more information in this brochure, but it is in Dutch only.
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