Examples of Mitigating and Aggravating Circumstances for Fines and Penalties

Q&A

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Question:

The flexible system allows fine and penalties to be reduced or increased. Are there examples of circumstances that are being taken into account?

Published: 18 April 2018

Answer:

Circumstances that can be taken into account include:

the gravity or duration of the non-compliance

the degree of culpability of the non-compliant party

repetition of the offence

the non-compliant party's size

the measures that the non-compliant party has taken to prevent recurrence

other special circumstances

the non-compliant party's ability to pay

Some of the circumstances are set out in more detail in the Decree on Administrative Fines in the Financial Sector (Besluit bestuurlijke boetes financiële sector). We have established a policy with regard to setting fines and penalties. See DNB's fine and penalty amounts policy (Government Gazette 2020, 63846). For example, the size of the non-compliant party can be a fine or penalty-reducing circumstance, repetition of the non-compliance is a fine or penalty-increasing circumstance, and gravity and/or duration of the non-compliance and the degree of culpability are circumstances that can be both fine or penalty-reducing and fine or penalty-increasing.

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