Triodos free from Dutch central bank warning over money laundering controls

The Triodos Bank is no longer under the warning De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) issued for possible shortcomings in battling money laundering. In 2019, the Dutch central bank flagged Triodos for lacking controls to stop suspicious money flows, and for lax screening of clients to check for potential ties to terrorism.

Triodos Bank has now been cleared of the designation, the organization reported in its annual figures. A designation from DNB is one of the strictest measures taken against banks. When a bank fails to follow instructions to improve specific processes, harsher punishments like a transaction ban can follow.

Following the DNB warning, Triodos appointed a risk director. Although the caution from the regulator has now been lifted, the bank stated in its annual results that it will continue to "proactively" follow anti-money laundering rules.

Similar to other Dutch banks, Triodos reported a significantly higher profit last year compared to 2022. Due to the rising interest rates in the eurozone, the gap between the interest the bank paid and received widened.

This resulted in a 55 percent increase in net profit to 77.2 million euros. However, income from interest dwindled in the second half of the year because banks began paying more to those with savings accounts.

CEO Jeroen Rijpkema also spoke about the significant influx of new clients. He attributed this to rising interest in the bank's sustainability efforts.