The centre will open on September 1
Translated by Thomas Ansell
As reported by the Leeuwarder Courant, the large Dutch bank Rabobank will open a new ‘expertise centre’ for financial crime in Leeuwarden. Between 150 and 200 jobs will come with the new centre, which will be housed in the former head office of the Friesland Bank (‘the building with the green dome’).
Seven other expertise centra will also open around the country, in Groningen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam; Eindhoven, Elst (Gelderland), Sittard; and Hengelo. “We have chosen to have a national spread, because we have roots in each region”, said a spokesperson. “It’s also better for recruitment”, they added.
Jelmer Algra, the Director of Rabobank Leeuwarden Noordwest-Friesland, says “this is a great boost of the Frisian labour market”.
The centra will be referred to as a “Customer Due Diligence” office, and will investigate various transactions between people and/or companies that seem to be suspicious. Dutch government under Mark Rutte have given a bigger and bigger role to banks themselves in combatting financial crime, such as money laundering- despite a series of huge financial fraud cases involving the large Dutch banks ABN AMRO and ING, with ING even being accused of ‘financing terrorism’ in 2018.
Rabobank previously had 50 dedicated financial crime workers in Friesland, who worked for its regional arm. The bank has, in recent years, shed large numbers of staff as it digitalises and automates. New staff will be recruited for the centre in Leeuwarden: “this work requires specific knowledge”, says Algra.
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