Anne Hakvoort

Individual information

Practice Areas

Anne specializes in Dutch financial regulatory and securities laws with a special focus on Digital Finance, Fintech and alternative financing structures, including blockchain based and platform driven business models. Anne Hakvoort is highly experienced in financial regulatory law related matters and assists in respect of license applications or registrations required to enter the Dutch market. Anne also has expertise and experience in the field of debt and equity capital markets transactions, syndicated and bilateral facilities, complex transactions in financial products as well as financial restructurings. Anne is recommended in band 2 of the Chambers & Partners Fintech Rankings 2022.

Career

Anne Hakvoort holds a master in Dutch law from Leiden University and an LL.M. degree from Columbia University (New York). Anne completed the specialization course Grotius Securities Laws with distinction (‘cum laude’). Before joining FG Lawyers as a partner in 2015, Anne worked as a lawyer at NautaDutilh (2006-2012) and Eversheds (2012-2015).

Since 1 August 2021, Anne is director of Stichting Knox Bewaarinstelling.

Professional Memberships

Anne is registered in the following principal legal practice area in the Netherlands Bar’s register: Financial Law.

Anne is a member of the Association for Financial Law.

Anne is a fellow of the International Center for Financial law and Governance, a research center of the Erasmus School of Law.

Publications

Publications (available on the website via: https://www.fglawyersamsterdam.com/en/team/anne-hakvoort/)

2021:

November 2021 – Blog Series on the New Crowdfunding Framework

July 2021 – Response to Consultation of Dutch Implementation regulation on crowdfunding (in Dutch only)

March 2021 – Tokenisation and the Dutch regulatory regime (in Dutch only)

2020:

December 2020 – The European Digital Finance Package – a must read for anyone active in the FinTech industry

November 2020 – Consultation Amendment Act Financial Markets 2022 (in Dutch only)

November 2020 – Legal500 FinTech Comparative Guide 2020

October 2020 – Crowdfunding Regulation published

September 2020 – Annotation ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2020:1639 published in JOR 2020/208 (in Dutch only)

April 2020 – Law requests Dutch financial regulators DNB and AFM 2020 (in Dutch only)

April 2020 – Consultation legal framework crypto assets – response FG Lawyers

January 2020 – Chambers and Partners FinTech Rankings guide 2020 – Introduction to Dutch regulatory framework applicable to FinTech

2019:

November 2019 – Legal500 FinTech Comparative Guide – Netherlands

January 2019 – Response FG Lawyers draft bill implementing AMLD5 (in Dutch only)

2018:

June 2018 – FinTech: a struggle for legislators and regulators. Does the FinTech Actionplan bring any clarification? (Article in Dutch published in the Financial Law Journal)

June 2018 – Managers of crypto funds – be prepared!

May 2018 – Response European Crowdfunding Regulation

March 2018 – European Commission brings crowdfunding to the next level

January 2018 – The month of the Crypto’s [Blog]

2017:

November 2017 – Chapter (in Dutch) ‘Alternative financing’ for the anniversary beam of the Dutch Association for Financial Law

November 2017 – Response FG Lawyers – Inception Impact Assessment European Commission European regulatory framework for financial-return based crowdfunding

November 2017 – Response (in Dutch) FG Lawyers – Consultation Dutch regulatory framework for crowdlending platforms

July 2017 – Response (in Dutch) FG Lawyers – Consultation document increase of offering threshold from €2.5 to €5 million to be exempt from the prospectus obligation

June 2017 – Response FG Lawyers – FinTech Consultation European Commission

February 2017 – Response (in Dutch) FG Lawyers – Consultation document Review Dutch financial Supervision Act

January 2017 – Most important regulatory obstacles to cross border crowdfunding

2016:

October 2016 – Response (in Dutch) Draft Bill Investment Objects and Investment Bonds

August 2016 – Response (in Dutch) discussion document AFM/DNB ‘More space for innovation in the financial sector’

May 2016 – CrowdFundRES Report

April 2016 – New crowdfunding rules

March 2016 – Crowdfunding Crossing Borders Report

Alternative finance and FinTech and FG Lawyers – a logical choice

2015:

June 2015 – Q&A Debt Sale

April 2015 – Consultation reaction Crowdfunding Decree (in Dutch only)

March 2015 – Newsletter – Regulators’ views on crowdfunding

March 2015 – Blog – Go go go Dijsselbloem! (in Dutch only)

Personal

Mother of three lovely kids

Clients

a.o. DELA, Ageras, LiteBit, NovaDax, Ebury, Pay, Intrum, ZIB, Finturi

Work Highlights

FG Lawyers advised a UK based consumer credit provider in preparation of its license application process as a consumer credit provider in The Netherlands and advised on its contemplated cross border legal structure from a Dutch financial regulatory law perspective. The work included draft and revision of the legal documentation such as agreements, terms and conditions and policies for consumers and merchants, as well as advice with respect to the marketing materials.

On a continuing basis, FG Lawyers acts as corporate and regulatory counsel of a group of life and funeral insurers established in the Netherlands. Most recent involvement concerns corporate and regulatory assistance in respect of its investment in a highly innovative platform based provider of consumer credit.

FG Lawyers advises Europe’s leading credit management and services company on a continuing basis in respect of the financial regulatory impact of its services in the field of offering of and intermediating in respect of consumer credit.

FG Lawyers assisted an invoice financing platform based on blockchain technology in obtaining market access and advises such platform on an ongoing basis on regulatory and commercial contracts law issues.

FG Lawyers advises an EMI, PSP and investment firm on a continuing basis, both directly and in cooperation with the Simont Braun, in respect of regulatory and civil law questions. Assisted in drafting all loan documents and security documents under the State guaranteed SME loan program (BMKB-C Regulation).

FG Lawyers assisted a party with the introduction of its SME credit product in The Netherlands: a merchant cash advance in the form of a short term loan on an unsecured basis available for eligible merchants in the Netherlands (MCA). FG Lawyers assistance consisted of (i) drafting of the terms and conditions for the Dutch market, (ii) Dutch financial regulatory law and Dutch civil law advice with respect to the offering and conclusion of the MCA to the merchants and (iii) the subsequent sale and assignment of the receivables arising from the MCA.

FG Lawyers assisted one of the largest crypto brokers in the Netherlands in respect of the required registration under the Dutch AML act and advises on a continuous basis in respect of the regulatory framework applicable to its services as well as on the regulatory implications upon expanding its business.

FG Lawyers advised a mortgage credit provider in launching its platform for mortgage loans to enable elderly people to cash in on part of the overvalue of their property. As a non-bank lender it contemplates to service a platform via which professional investors invest in (part of) the mortgage loans provided via the platform to consumers. FG Lawyers assisted in obtaining the relevant authorisations from the AFM and draft of terms and conditions.

FG Lawyers assisted a party to obtain a MiFID II license for its crowdinvesting platform and advises it on a continuous basis in respect of the regulatory laws applicable to several companies within the group in relation to their respective activities as a crowdlending platform, crowdinvesting platform and managing investment institutions, including in relation to the Dutch Financial Supervision Act, Crowdfunding Regulation and Directive, the Prospectus regulation, MiFID II and AIFMD.

FG Lawyers assisted a marketplace lending platform in the Netherlands in connection with regulatory issues and commercial contracts law.

FG Lawyers advised a large credit provider in respect of the financial regulatory impact of its services in the field of offering of consumer credit. FG Lawyers also advised in respect of its forward flow and spot debt sales.

FG Lawyers successfully assisted a party in its discussions with the Dutch Central Bank in respect of its services qualifying as payment processing services.

FG Lawyers advised a FinTech start-up company using the blockchain technology for new financial services purposes, with respect to its corporate and regulatory set-up and guide them during meetings with the competent authority.

FG Lawyers assisted a payment institution with the application to be admitted to several SEPA Schemes by rendering the requested legal opinions to the European Payments Council.

FG Lawyers assisted a party in applying for a license for intermediating services in consumer credit.

FG Lawyers assisted a loan based crowdfunding platform established in the Netherlands with the regulatory framework applicable to crowdfunding of financial lease products, discussing white labelling structure with a crowdfunding partner with the appropriate authorizations from the AFM and assist in setting up the corporate structure and required legal documentation to launch.

FG Lawyers assisted the branch organisation for credit unions, in drafting the template documentation for its members, several credit unions who either use the intermediation model or the banking model.

FG Lawyers assisted a party, at the request of the Dutch Central Bank, in conducting a financial regulatory research mapping the Dutch possibilities and barriers in the current laws and regulations for founding a riskless full reserve bank the deposit holders of which would also be able to use their accounts for engaging in cashless payment transactions.

Awards