Dutch banks are striving to streamline the process for sex workers to open business bank accounts. The Dutch Banking Association (NVB) recently unveiled a new Sector Standard, developed in

collaboration with the regulator DNB, aiming to facilitate sex workers in maintaining business accounts while complying with anti-money laundering regulations.

Sex workers often face obstacles in securing business bank accounts due to their heavy reliance on cash transactions, posing challenges for banks to trace the source of funds. Additionally, understanding the typical income and expenditures within this sector complicates the identification of potentially suspicious transactions.

The NVB highlighted that insufficient information during customer assessments might lead banks to decline or cease operating a bank account in line with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.

Following discussions with the DNB and among themselves, banks introduced the Sector Standard, allowing banks to utilize sex workers’ tax returns to ascertain their income sources and customary financial patterns. According to the NVB, sex workers maintaining meticulous records and being registered with the Chamber of Commerce can complement these efforts by submitting income tax returns or, if unavailable, VAT returns, thereby easing the process of opening a bank account. Photo by Rungbachduong, Wikimedia commons.