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NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS DOUBLES IN TEN YEARS

Zuidas -The number of independent contractors registered in the major Dutch cities

of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht has doubled in the last ten years,

from 81,000 in 2007 to 165,000 in 2017, according to figures released by Statistics

Netherlands (CBS). Utrecht came out at the top, with an increase of 135%, bringing its

total population of sole traders to 22,100. Their number grew in the rest of the Nether-

lands too, by an average of 79%.

EU PARLIAMENT DISMISSES DUTCH BLACKLISTING

Zuidas - The Netherlands will not be officially recognized as a tax haven by the European

Parliament after all. An initiative by Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) delegation leader Paul

Tang to get the Netherlands blacklisted was voted down by a narrow margin of 327 in

favour and an equal number against, leading to its dismissal. The proposed amendment

came out of an EU Parliamentar y special committee investigation into tax evasion

conducted in connection with the Panama Paper revelations. Besides the Netherlands,

its report explicitly named Ireland, Malta and Luxembourg as tax havens.

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FINANCE

BRITISH EXCHANGE PLATFORM PICKS ZUIDAS

Zuidas - British broker NEX Group is relocating its trading

activities to Zuidas, the latest in a series of UK businesses

to cross the channel to the Netherlands, fuelled by Brexit.

The move concerns the company’s electronic platform for

trading fixed income securities, employing ten people, it

reported on the release of its half-year results. Listed on

the London Stock Exchange and the FTSE 250, NEX has

expressed concern about the possible Brexit fallout. In an

inter view with Bloomberg, director and founder Michael

Spencer praised the Dutch regulator and its solid knowledge

of the market. ‘Amsterdam came out the winner based on

the entire package, including employee legislation and taxes.

Dublin and Frankfurt rated well too, but Amsterdam did

better’, Spencer said of the decision.

PENSION FUNDS ACQUIRE

RECORD NUMBER OF NEW-BUILDS

Zuidas - Dutch pension funds bought up a record number of

new residential buildings in 2017, acquiring 17,000 new-built

units through investment institutions including Amvest,

Vesteda and Syntrus Achmea. This represents a rise of 35%

relative to 2016 and a capital investment of €3.5 billion,

according to the latest figures of real estate consultancy

Capital Value. But it seems the pension funds’ hunger for

rental housing investment is by no means sated: they would

have added as many as 5,000 to 10,000 more units to their

portfolios had they been available, says Capital Value. Indeed,

not long ago it was reported that millions of euros in potential

investments by Dutch institutional investors are languishing

due to the lack of building sites and municipal cooperation.

Source: Het Financieele Dagblad
Every edition of Hello Zuidas magazine features financial news related to the Zuidas district,
Amsterdam or the Netherlands. Send your financial news to: [email protected].
Photography Lotte de Graaf

ABN AMRO GEARS UP TO TAKE ON FINTECHS

Zuidas - ABN AMRO has announced the launch of a new online lending company, to be called New10. The SME credit provider is keen

to lend not only more money, but also to do so faster and cheaper than market competitors. The established bank will be entering an

arena populated mainly by startups, extending loans in the bandwidth of 20,000 to 1 million euros – considerably more than famous

alternative financiers like Funding Circle, Spotcap and Lendico.