89/512/EEC: Commission Decision of 19 July 1989 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/31.499 - Dutch banks) (Only the Dutch text is authentic)
89/512/EEC: Commission Decision of 19 July 1989 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/31.499 - Dutch banks) (Only the Dutch text is authentic)
Decision · 5 articles
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
On the basis of the facts known to it, the Commission finds no grounds for action to be taken under Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty against the following provisions notified by the Nederlandse Bankiersvereniging:
- Regulation I (Introduction), Articles 15 to 19,
- Regulation XIII (foreign exchange transactions), Regulation concerning the Valutanoteringscommissie, in the version communicated to the members of the Vereniging van Deviezenbanken by circular of 12 April 1989 of this association,
- Decision concerning uniform conditions for the hire of safes,
- Decision on charges for the use of postage-paid envelopes,
- Decision concerning the sale of gift vouchers
- circular concerning forward transactions in foreign currencies,
- circular concerning own-account dealing by foreign exchange dealers,
- circular laying down guidelines for Swift and other payment transfers in foreign currencies between foreign currency banks,
- agreement concerning open-open telephone lines,
- agreement concerning gifts and bonuses offered as an incentive to savers,
- agreement concerning transfers relating to fund-raising acceptances.
Pursuant to Article 85 (3) of the EEC Treaty, the provisions of Article 85 (1) are hereby declared inapplicable for the period from 10 May 1988 to 9 May 1998 to the circulars drawn up by the Vereniging van Deviezenbanken concerning simplified clearance procedures for cheques denominated both in guilders and in foreign currencies.
The Vereniging van Deviezenbanken is hereby required to inform the Commission forthwith of any direct or indirect addition or amendment to the circulars referred to in Article 2.
This Decision is addressed to the following associations of undertakings and undertakings:
- Nederlandse Bankiersvereniging,
Keizersgracht 706,
1017 EW Amsterdam, Netherlands;
- Vereniging van Deviezenbanken,
Keizersgracht 706,
1017 EW Amsterdam, Netherlands;
- Vereniging van Wisselmakelaars,
Keizersgracht 706,
1017 EW Amsterdam, Netherlands;
- the members of the former College van Overleg van de Gezamenlijke Banken, which are, in addition to the Nederlandse Bankiersvereniging, the following:
- Cooeperative Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank
BA,
Croeselaan 18,
3521 CB Utrecht, Netherlands;
- Nederlandse Spaarbankbond,
Singel 236,
1016 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands;
- Postbank NV
Haarlemmerweg, 506-512,
1014 BL Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Done at Brussels, 19 July 1989.
For the Commission
Sir Leon BRITTAN
Vice-President
(1) OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62.(2) OJ No 127, 20. 8. 1963, p. 2268/63.
(3) OJ No C 282, 5. 11. 1988, p. 4.
The provisions referred to in paragraphs (18), (19), and (20) of the Decision related more specifically to the following conditions to be applied by the financial institutions concerned.
1.
Regulation I (Introduction), Articles 1 to 14
These provisions contained various rules of a general character to be complied with by NBV, VDB, SBC and VBOL members when applying the other regulations. The rules related in particular to liability to the payment of commissions and charges and to the way in which commissions are mentioned on invoices. The rules also provided that all the amounts to be charged on the basis of the regulations had to be rounded up to the nearest 0,10 guilders or a multiple thereof and, furthermore, that, in applying the minimum commissions, the members must pass on to their clients all third-party costs such as postage, communication and correspondence costs.
2.
Regulation II (transfer of payments in general)
This Regulation, which applied to NBV members, laid down minimum commissions for a number of services generally involved in the transfer of payments:
- commissions which the banks had to charge their customers for services relating to the receipt and processing of orders by telephone, cash transfers to accounts of third parties, payments to non-account-holders and the drawing of cheques on the bank concerned or on a bank abroad (Articles 1 to 5 and 9).
- commissions which the banks had to charge both customers and each other for services relating to cash credits (Articles 6 to 8).
3.
Regulation III (domestic transfer of payments)
Under this Regulation, NBV members had to charge their customers minimum commissions for handling cheques denominated in guilders, other than ordinary and Eurocheques (Article 1), and for processing and carrying out payments in foreign currencies between residents, both by transfer and by cheque (Article 2).
4.
Regulation IV (Eurocheques)
This Regulation, applicable to VDB and SBC members, laid down minimum commissions which the banks had to charge their customers for issuing Eurocheque cards (Article 1); for the cashing of Eurocheques of an amount greater than 500 guilders (Article 2); and for the cashing of cheques guaranteed by a bank abroad other than standard Eurocheques (Article 3).
5.
Regulation V (transactions relating to travel)
Under this Regulation, VDB members had to charge minimum commissions:
- to their customers, for the buying or selling of foreign banknotes or traveller's cheques (Articles 1 and 2),
- to banks abroad, for the deposit with a VDB member of traveller's cheques of the foreign bank concerned (Article 3).
6.
Regulation VI (foreign transfer of payments)
This Regulation required VDB members to charge minimum commissions:
- to their customers for the transferring or receiving of payments between residents and non-residents (Article 1); between an account held by a resident in the Netherlands and another in his own name abroad (Article 2); or between non-residents, irrespective of where the accounts were held (Article 3);
for services relating to a currency permit issued by the Dutch central bank (Article 4); for the conclusion and extending of forward transactions in foreign currencies (Article 5); and for the handling and returning of unpaid cheques (Article 6),
- to other banks for certain services specified in Articles 1 to 6.
Under the Regulation, the commission for the transfer or receiving of payments between residents and non-residents did not have to be charged on certain securities transactions that were carried out through a VDB member.
7.
Regulation VII (letters of credit)
Under this Regulation, NBV members had to charge minimum commissions on various services relating to letters of credit (Articles 1 to 12). For the bulk of such services, the commissions were charged both to other banks and to customers.
8.
Regulation VIII (acceptances, underwriting and deferred payments)
Under this Regulation, NBV members had to charge other banks and customers minimum commissions for accepting bills of exchange, signing promissory notes, underwriting bills of exchange, undertaking to carry out a payment at a future point in time or having such services carried out by third parties (Articles 1 to 3).
9.
Regulation IX (guarantees)
Under this Regulation, NBV members had to charge customers and other banks minimum commissions for providing various sorts of guarantees and associated services (Articles 1 to 6).
10.
Regulation X (collections)
This Regulation required NBV members to charge customers and other banks minimum commissions on a number of services relating to collection (Articles 1 to 4).
11.
Regulation XI (various services)
Under these provisions, NBV members had to charge minimum commissions for various types of services.
This involved firstly administrative services provided to customers in respect of securities (Articles 1 to 3). With regard to the same and other administrative services provided to foreign professionals in respect of securities, Article 4 provided for a special rate of charge which had been agreed between the NBV, the VDB and the VEH at the initiative of the VEH.
Secondly, the provisions laid down minimum commissions which NBV members had to charge customers for services relating to the safe custody of goods, the hire of safes and the use of night safes (Articles 5 to 7).
Lastly, the provisions laid down minimum commissions which NBV members had to charge to customers and, in the case of some services, to other banks for a number of other services, such as the provision of banking information, acting as intermediary in the purchase of treasury bills and providing a bank reference to tenderers for public contracts (Articles 8 to 11).
12.
Regulation XII (fixing of value dates)
This Regulation stipulated for NBV members the day as from which amounts to be debited and credited were to be entered in current accounts, i.e. were to be included in the calculation of interest.
According to this Regulation, amounts to be debited, or credited, between banks had to be debited, or credited, in the banks's accounts no later, or earlier, than the date of clearing, but in the banks's customers's current accounts one or more days later, or earlier, than that date.
13.
Regulation XIII (foreign exchange transactions)
This Regulation consisted of several parts. The following parts have now been entirely withdrawn by the VDB:
13.1.
Regulation on foreign exchange transactions
Under this Regulation, VDB members were not allowed, in carrying out foreign exchange transactions (other than the buying and selling of foreign banknotes), to charge their customers more favourable rates and margins than the rates established by the Valutanoteringscommissie or the minimum margins laid down in the Regulation.
Only if the transaction in a single foreign currency exceeded the equivalent of 250 000 guilders, and this was expressly requested by the customer, could a VDB member charge a more favourable rate and margin.
The Regulation also related to forward transactions (Articles 1 to 8).
13.2.
Regulation on transactions in foreign banknotes
Under this Regulation, VDB members were not allowed, in purchasing and selling foreign banknotes, to charge customers more favourable rates and margins than the rates established by the Noteringscommissie vreemd bankpapier or the margins stipulated in the regulation.
Only if the equivalent value of the transaction exceeded 5 000 guilders could a VDB member charge a more favourable rate (Articles 1 to 4).
13.3.
Regulation concerning the Noteringscommissie vreemd bankpapier
Under this Regulation, the Noteringscommissie vreemd bankpapier, whose four members were appointed by the board of the VDB, had the task of establishing daily the middle rates for foreign banknotes.
The four members of the Noteringscommissie were, in practice, representatives of four of the five largest banks (the Algemene Bank Nederland, the Rabobank, the Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank and the Nederlandse Middenstandsbank), who agreed on the rates by telephone.
The Regulation also stipulated that the board of the VDB should establish the minimum margins by which VDB members had to reduce or increase the rates in aiming at the buying and selling rates to be applied by them. The margins were subsequently laid down in the regulation on transactions in foreign banknotes referred to under 1.13.2 above (Articles 1 to 4).
14.
Regulation XIV (regulation concerning the VBOL)
Under this Regulation, VBOL members had to charge minimum commissions for acting as intermediaries for loans based on promissory notes and the assignment of such loans to third parties.
15.
Regulation concerning the VWM
This Regulation provided in particular for uniform commissions, which VWM members had to charge, for acting as intermediaries in transactions involving treasury bills and minimum commissions for acting as intermediaries in bringing about national and international interbank deposits.
The Regulation stipulated expressly that VWM members were prohibited from charging lower commissions than those which were established in the Regulation itself or by the VWM in consultation with the NBV or the VDB. Nor could VWM members give refunds or rebates to their customers, with the exception of certain reductions which they could grant to VDB members on certain transactions involving foreign currencies.
16.
Agreement concerning acting as intermediary in foreign currency transactions
An agreement had been concluded between the VDB and the VWM on the basis of which, if they called on third parties to act as intermediaries in foreign exchange transactions, VDB members:
- should only make use of services of VWM members in all cases in which they use the services of a bill broker established in the Netherlands (also in the case of international deposits),
- should not accept any domestic counterpart (except in the case of international deposits), if they made use of the services of a broker established abroad.
17.
VDB circular concerning telex and postage costs
This circular provided that VDB members should abolish the charging of telex and postage costs to one another.
In accordance with the circular, such costs were to be continued to be passed on by VDB members to their customers.
18.
NBV circular concerning gifts and bonuses offered on banking services
This circular contained a code of behaviour for NBV members on the basis of which money prizes could be offered only on the opening of saving accounts and not on the opening of payment accounts, the granting of loans, insurance brokerage and services relating to travel. In addition, the monetary prices could not amount to more than 7,50 guilders and could be offered only as part of promotion activities of limited duration. The circular was intended to serve the implementation of the much less far-reaching agreement concerning gifts and bonuses offered on banking services referred to in paragraph (42) of the Decision.
