The Banking Code

On 9 September 2009, the NVB introduced the Banking Code following the report “Restoring Trust” (the advisory report) of the advisory committee on the Future of Banks (“the Maas Committee”) (www.nvb.nl). The Banking Code can be deemed as self-regulation and applies to all banks in the possession of a banking licence issued by virtue of the Financial Supervision Act (Wft). The objective of the Banking Code is to strengthen governance within banks and further focuses on risk management, auditing and a sound remuneration policy.

The Banking Code comes into effect on 1 January 2010. In their 2009 annual reports, banks must report on the manner in which they prepared for the implementation of the Banking Code. The Banking Code will be enshrined in the law. By doing so, the Banking Code ties in with the Code and existing laws and regulations. As part thereof, the relation with European and international developments has also been taken into account.

During the past year, BinckBank has made proper preparations for the implementation of the Banking Code. The main preparations involved listing, cataloguing and assessing the differences between the Code and the Banking Code in terms of substance. As yet, the conclusion is that BinckBank is expected to hardly deviate from the Banking Code. A large part of the recommendations in the Banking Code relates to remuneration. Insofar the recommendations included therein relate to the substance of the remuneration policy, BinckBank will incorporate the majority thereof in the new remuneration policy, which will be submitted at the 2010 general meeting for adoption.

BinckBank has further taken specific steps for the implementation of the Banking Code. BinckBank has brought the tasks and responsibilities of the executive and supervisory board in line with the relevant provisions of the Banking Code. A product approval process as referred to in the Banking Code has been adopted. Within the supervisory board, in addition to the audit committee, a risk committee has been installed as described in the Banking Code. A permanent training programme for executive and supervisory board members is under development.