Payment institutions will face a new obligation in 2023. They will have to have their financial statements audited by an auditor.
Most institutions are already required to have their financial statements audited by an auditor because of their business size. But since the introduction of PSD2, there are a number of new small payment institutions that are not required to have their financial statements audited under the Civil Code. These are mainly payment institutions offering service 7 (payment initiation services) whether or not in combination with service 8 (account information services). The explanatory memorandum shows that the obligation will not apply to institutions that only offer payment service 8.
Payment institutions are required to submit their financial statements to DNB every year. These must include an audit opinion issued by a registered auditor after the change. A composition or review report is not sufficient.
The amendment will be implemented in Section 3:72(7) of the Financial Supervision Act (Wft) and will take effect from 1 January 2023. With the amendment, the legislator is responding to a 2019 legislative request from DNB to equalise the obligation for all financial companies, among other things from a prudential perspective. As of when DNB will enforce this obligation is not yet known. The monitoring obligation also applies to electronic money institutions. The amendment is part of the Financial Markets Amendment Act 2022.