In May 2026, the Dutch Senate approved a legislative amendment that revises the remuneration rules under the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht). The amendment brings the Dutch bonus cap and other Dutch remuneration rules closer in line with European legislation and narrows its scope to so-called "identified staff" only.
Currently, the regulatory remuneration rules in the Netherlands are among the strictest in Europe, differing from the European regulatory framework in two key respects:
- Dutch remuneration rules apply to all employees working under the responsibility of a financial institution, whereas European remuneration rules are limited to identified staff.
- Dutch remuneration rules apply to all types of financial institutions, whereas European remuneration rules apply exclusively to banks and certain investment firms.
Furthermore, the Dutch bonus cap sets a lower limit (20%) than the European maximum (100%, or 200% with shareholder approval).
The latest evaluation of Dutch remuneration rules has shown that these regulations negatively affect the competitive position and business climate of the financial sector. Financial institutions in the Netherlands struggle to attract and retain specialist staff in IT and technology roles, which are concerns that motivated lawmakers to draft this amendment.
Bonus cap limited to identified staff
A key change introduced by the amendment is the narrowing of the scope of the Dutch 20% bonus cap. Under the revised rules, the 20% bonus cap will no longer apply to all employees of a financial institution, but exclusively to identified staff. The term "identified staff" refers to individuals working under the responsibility of a financial undertaking whose professional activities have a material impact on the financial undertaking's risk profile.
A financial institution has the responsibility to interpret the applicable legal framework to determine whether an employee qualifies as identified staff. The explanatory note to the legislative amendment makes clear that, for certain types of financial institutions, European sector-specific regulations specify which employees are to be regarded as identified staff. Examples include the Capital Requirements Directive and the Solvency II Directive. The explanatory note further indicates that financial institutions subject to sector-specific regulations (e.g. banks and insurers) are expected to align their assessment of identified staff with those rules.
For financial institutions operating under no sector-specific framework (e.g. payment institutions, advisors, intermediaries and authorised agents), the financial undertaking must define identified staff in a manner that appropriately reflects its own risk profile. In doing so, guidance from sector-specific frameworks applicable to other types of financial institutions may serve as a useful point of reference. The explanatory note also states that, if questions arise from the market in this respect, the Dutch financial regulators (i.e. the DNB and AFM) will assess whether it is necessary to publish further guidance on this topic.
Other remuneration rules limited to identified staff
In addition to narrowing the scope of the bonus cap, the legislative amendment restricts several related remuneration rules to identified staff. These include:
- the requirement that at least 50% of any granted variable remuneration must be based on non-financial criteria;
- the obligation to disclose variable remuneration in the management report;
- the requirements regarding the grant of retention bonuses; and
- the five-year retention period for financial instruments forming part of fixed remuneration.
Entry into force
The revised remuneration rules will enter into force on a date to be determined by Royal Decree (Koninklijk Besluit). As the Royal Decree has not yet been published, the entry into force date is currently not known.
For more information on this amendment or for questions on how to conduct assessments of identified staff in your business, contact your CMS client partner or the CMS experts who contributed to this article.
