Finance minister Eelco Heinen wants banks to be able to share information about their customers as part of anti-money laundering investigations, despite privacy concerns.

He also wants more focused monitoring and possible legislation to open up the savings market and encourage more competition, he told MPs on Monday in a new discussion document outlining his views on the financial sector.

Banks are currently not allowed to share information about clients because of privacy. However, Heinen said the current situation is expensive and ineffective.

Some 13,000 bank workers are now focused solely on looking for unusual patterns of spending, and this is not only leading to costs of €1.4 billion a year, but also some sectors and foundations being excluded from their client base altogether.

Customers with foreign names have also complained about being excluded or facing extra questions, he said. “We know 6% of entrepreneurs face difficulties opening or keeping a bank account,” he said.

“The discussion about privacy is at odds with tracing criminal money and keeping the financial system clean,” he said. “We are getting to the point where the red tape is starting to get out of hand.”

Banks have been tightening up their checks on clients since 2018, when ING reached a €775 million out-of-court settlement with the public prosecution department over its lack of money-laundering controls. Other banks have reached similar deals since then.

Preventing money laundering, reducing the pressure of red tape, and guaranteeing privacy are often at odds, he said. “Keeping the financial system clean is paramount,” Heinen said, adding that he also wants to reduce regulation.

“Then you have to talk about privacy, and that discussion currently focuses on what you can’t do, not what you can make possible.”

Banks could, for example, exchange the names of clients on their blacklists. The minister said he plans to discuss the options with the privacy watchdog AP before moving any further.

Savings

Heinen also said he wants to change the “negative sentiment” surrounding banks. “They are criticised for their profits, for the interest they provide on savings, and the cost of bank accounts,” he said. “But we never talk about their economic importance.”

He repeated earlier threats that if banks did not keep their clients with savings accounts better informed about making the most of their money by the end of the year, he would not rule out bringing in new legislation.  This would ban banks from restricting savings accounts to customers who also have a current account.