THE HAGUE - All Dutch nationals including those in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and anywhere abroad must be given the legal right to open a basic bank account.

Dutch Member of Parliament Joost Sneller of the party D66 has presented a private member's bill to this end. Banks are required to offer this service but are allowed to charge higher costs in the rates.

In the explanation, Sneller explicitly points out that his law also applies to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament has asked the government more often to make payments between the islands and the European Netherlands easier and more affordable, but Minister Hoekstra (Finance) does not give the impression that he wants to make haste with it.

With his law, Sneller also wants to prevent ABN-AMRO from pursuing its plan to unilaterally terminate existing bank accounts of Dutch nationals abroad (inlcuding the Caribbean).