Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act
According to the Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act, the following service is regarded as a trust service: the provision of domicile for a legal entity or company in combination with the provision of additional services. These additional services can, among other things, consist of providing legal advice, taking care of tax returns and carrying out activities relating to the preparation, assessment or audit of the annual accounts or the conduct of the business administration. In practice, the provision of domicile and the provision of additional services are often separated; these services are not provided by the same party. The party that provides the additional services brings the client in contact with a party that provides domicile or vice versa. In this way, both providers do not fall within the scope of the Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act.
However, with a Memorandum of Amendment of June 6, 2018, a proposal was made to impose a prohibition on this separating of services. This prohibition entails that service providers are proving a trust service according to the Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act when they provide services that are aimed both at the provision of domicile and at the provision of additional services. Without a permit, a service provider is therefore no longer allowed to provide additional services and to subsequently bring the client in contact with a party that provides domicile. Furthermore, a service provider who does not have a permit may not act as an intermediary by bringing a client in contact with various parties who can provide domicile and provide additional services. The bill to amend the Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act is now in the Senate. When this bill is adopted, this will have major consequences for many companies; a lot of companies will have to apply for a permit under the Dutch Trust Office Supervision Act in order to continue their current activities.