Compliance policy at KAeP NOTARIS
Civil law notaries play an important role in society when it comes to recording the correct information in a notarial deed or providing legal advice. This involves various investigations that we are legally obliged to carry out. These obligations arise from, among other things, the Notaries Act (Wet op het notarisambt - Wna), the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme - Wwft) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Below you will find general information about these laws and how we implement them in our daily practice.
We have laid down how we deal with compliance with our legal obligations in an internal compliance policy. If you have any questions about this, please contact your contact person at our office or the compliance officer at info@kaepnotaris.nl.
Client screening and reporting obligation
As a notary office, we are legally obliged to verify the identity of our clients prior to performing our work on the basis of the Notaries Act (Wna) and, in addition, to conduct client screening and report unusual transactions on the basis of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft).
This investigation involves collecting and storing information about the assignment we receive from a client and the parties involved that we advise. This includes requesting personal or company data by means of documents (e.g. articles of association, annual accounts, register of shareholders, UBO extract), searches in (public) registers (e.g. Trade Register, Land Registry) and personal questions.
The extent of a client screening varies depending on the situation. The work involved will be carried out on the basis of the hours spent multiplied by an hourly rate. The duration of this depends in part on whether the information requested by us is provided completely, timely and in full.
Only after completion of the client screening will we carry out our other activities, such as drawing up notarial deeds and documents.
More information about the various components of this client screening can be found in the brochure (in Dutch) from the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries (KNB):Brochure cliëntenonderzoek en meldplicht in het notariaat.
Ultimate beneficial owner (UBO)
One of the components of our client screening is determining the ultimate beneficial owner of a legal entity, also known as the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO). The ultimate beneficial owner is considered to be the natural person who, directly or indirectly, owns more than 25% of the legal entity or can otherwise exercise ultimate control, for example through voting rights or actual control. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the website of the Chamber of Commerce (in English): https://www.kvk.nl/en/secure-business/what-are-ubos/.
UBOs are legally required to register in the UBO register of the Chamber of Commerce. This register is not public and is currently not accessible to authorised institutions, such as notary offices. We will therefore always ask you to obtain a recent UBO extract (no older than one month) and send it to us.
Politically Exposed Person (PEP)
If a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), such as a government official, is involved, special rules apply to the client screening. More information about PEPs can be found in the brochure (in Dutch) from the Dutch government:Brochure Politiek Prominente Personen (PEP's).
Privacy and processing of personal data
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out a number of rules regarding the processing of personal data. We have laid down how we handle your personal data in a Privacy Statement. You can read it here:Privacy Statement KAeP NOTARIS 2025 Engels.
Information security
The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries (KNB) has drawn up a detailed Information Security Policy as part of the Code of Conduct for Information Security in the Notarial Profession. The KNB drew up this Code of Conduct to protect the notarial profession. In collaboration with experts and in consultation with representatives from notary offices and IT suppliers, among others, the professional organisation has established security measures, such as how we receive, process and store confidential information and what requirements are imposed on IT suppliers.