A recent study conducted by the Dutch central bank DNB reveals that nearly one-third of financial institutions in the Netherlands have failed to sufficiently trace and freeze the assets of

individuals and companies listed under sanctions, even after 18 months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The investigation examined 31 financial institutions, highlighting their inability to locate and freeze all bank accounts and other assets that should have been subjected to sanctions.

DNB regulatory chief Maarten Gelderman, in an interview with current affairs show Nieuwsuur, stated, "If we consider the transactions that are easily identifiable, we are looking at a success rate of 95%, which is not bad. However, one bank has only managed to identify 60% of the assets, indicating a need for improvement."

Gelderman emphasized that one of the challenges lies in the discrepancies in spelling names. For instance, "Putin" can be spelled as "Poetin." He further noted, "The worst performer in this aspect achieved a mere 24% accuracy."

Names on the sanctions list are spelled in five different ways: Dutch, English, Russian, Ukrainian, and "other," which includes alternative spellings.

In response to the findings, the Dutch banking association VNB acknowledged that the overall work is being carried out effectively, but conceded challenges in terms of speed and complexity of the operation.

As of now, the Netherlands has frozen €644.5 million in Russian assets. However, this figure has seen minimal growth since the spring of 2022.

The sanctions list currently includes 1,473 individuals, 207 companies, and organizations. Photo by Mtcv presunto, Wikimedia commons.