Wopke Hoekstra

Netherlands gov't debt down €18 billion

May 16 '18 12:20

Last year the Netherlands' national debt decreased by 18 billion euros, from 434 billion euros to 416 billion euros, according to the central government's annual report that was released on Wednesday. That comes down to 56.7 percent of the Netherlands gross domestic product.

With that the Netherlands closed a year with a national debt that complies with European rules for the first time since the outbreak of the financial crisis. According to European rules, a country's national debt must remain below 60 percent of GDP.

Residents around Dutch airports start new interest group

May 15 '18 12:50

Business

The people living around six Dutch airports joined forces to fight against what they consider the undesirable growth of aviation in the Netherlands. On Tuesday they established a national residents' council on aviation called LBBL, ANP reports.

Fewer passengers for Air France-KLM due to strikes

May 11 '18 10:20

Business

In April airline Air France-KLM transported fewer passengers than in the same month last year, due to strikes at Air France. The French-Dutch airline transported 6.9 million passengers in April, 2.5 percent less than the over 7 million passengers transported in April 2017, RTL Nieuws reports.

At KLM the number of passengers increased by over 5 percent. But that was not enough to compensate for the nearly 9 percent decrease at Air France.

Dutch gov't won't intervene in Air France-KLM problems

May 10 '18 07:53

Business Politics

The Dutch government will not take any concrete measures to help Air France-KLM cope with the unrest on the French side of the airline, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge both said, in different words, on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

ING CEO's mega salary increase scrapped after storm of criticism

Mar 13 '18 08:07

Business Top Stories

ING decided to withdraw a proposed salary increase for CEO Ralph Hamers due to mass criticism from society and politicians. "We realize that we underestimated the public response in the Netherlands to this clearly sensitive issue", chairman of the supervisory board Jeroen van der Veer said in a statement on Tuesday, ANP reports.

Dick Benschop appointed CEO of Schiphol

Mar 12 '18 14:40

Business

Former PvdA State Secretary Dick Benschop will be the new CEO of Royal Schiphol Group, the board of the airport confirmed in a press release on Monday. He will succeed Jos Nijhuis on May 1st, ANP reports.

Benschop, 60, currently works at Royal Dutch Shell. Between 1998 and 2002 he was State Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Kok II government.

Schiphol boss criticized for seeking male successor

Mar 9 '18 12:39

Business Politics

Departing Schiphol CEO Jos Nijhuis is facing a storm of criticism from politicians after he said that his successor will be a man, otherwise Schiphol's board will have more women than men.

Netherlands to regulate, not ban cryptocurrencies

Mar 9 '18 07:43

Business Technology

Banning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is unfeasible, but the Dutch government wants to regulate the trade in cryptocurrency internationally to address the improper use of these digital coins, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance wrote in a letter to parliament, NU.nl reports.

Hoekstra wants to bring cryptocurrencies into an "appropriate regulatory framework" without jeopardizing the technology's potential. He wants to make sure that the conversion of cryptocurrencies into regular money does not happen under the radar, for example.

Politicians furious about ING boss's massive pay raise

Mar 8 '18 13:30

Business Politics

ING Bank raised the salary of CEO Ralph Hamers by more than half this year, to over 3 million euros, NOS reports. Parliamentarians are furious and demand an explanation. Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance is "not amused", according to newspaper AD.

Dutch banking bonus cap could disappear with new Europe rules

Mar 5 '18 09:10

Business

New rules proposed by the European Commission could mean an end to the bonus cap for hundreds of Dutch investment firms, though the cap may still apply to companies large enough to be considered systematically important, such as banks and insurers, BNR reports.

Dutch investigating ban on some cryptocurrency exchanges

Feb 1 '18 13:40

Business Politics

Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Financie is looking into whether banning certain cryptocurrency exchanges is desirable and possible. He hopes to give the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, information about this in the next few weeks, AD reports.

According to Hoekstra, the government would like to ban bitcoin derived products such as binary options - where people basically gamble on whether an asset like Bitcoin will rise to a specific price, or fall below a certain amount. But he added that this must first be properly investigated.

Dutch gov’t watching French-German cryptocurrency regulations before G20 summit

Jan 23 '18 16:20

Business

Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance is looking forward to seeing what his French and German colleagues come up with in regards to cryptocurrency regulations. The French and German Finance Ministers plan to present their proposal at the G20 summit in March, RTL Z reports.

Hoekstra said that "once it is there" he will study the proposed regulations "with attention" and then "see what we will do in the Netherlands", according to the broadcaster.

Queen Maxima, PM lead Dutch delegation to Davos

Jan 23 '18 10:38

Business Politics

Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte will head the Dutch delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The theme for this 48th edition of the WEF, taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, is 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World'.

Other cabinet members taking part in the forum are Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs, Minister Sigrid Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance, and Minister Bruno Bruins of Medical Care and Sport.

Dutch minister again preaches caution after wild cryptocurrency weekend

Dec 25 '17 10:40

Business

Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance warned Dutch investors about the risks involved in trading in Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. The price of the largest cryptocurrencies plummeted last week.

Names of new Dutch Ministers, State Secretaries announced

Oct 23 '17 12:00

Politics

The names of the Rutte III cabinet's Ministers and State Secretaries were announced on Saturday. In addition to Prime Minster Mark Rutte, there wil be 15 Ministers and eight State Secretaries. Just over a third of the new government are women. The expectation is that the Rutte III cabinet will take office on October 26th, RTL Nieuws reports.

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