why does the bank ask about financing from abroad

Foreign financing concerns money laundering prevention, not creditworthiness

The bank usually does not ask this to learn something about creditworthiness, but because client due diligence requires it. Money coming from outside the Netherlands — a loan from a foreign shareholder, an investment from a country outside the EU, a credit line at a foreign bank — can be a reason for the bank to inquire further about the source. This is part of the client due diligence that every bank must perform under the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act. It is not about the amount itself, but about whether the money flow can be explained and is consistent with the business.

In practice, the bank often combines this question with questions about the source of the company's assets and about ultimate beneficial owners. If the foreign financier is also a UBO, the bank wants to align those two answers: a loan from a shareholder who is already known as a beneficial owner raises fewer questions than money from an unknown party. If the business has no foreign financing, then "no" is the answer here for which the file does not require a source document — it is a factual finding, not an assessment.

Basis: client due diligence under the AMLFT Act

This question follows from the client due diligence that banks must perform under the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act: the bank must have insight into the nature and background of transactions and money flows of its client, and foreign financing falls within this. It is not a question that follows from the Trade Register Act 2007 or the CSRD directive — those govern other parts of the file, such as standard business data and sustainability reporting. Anyone uncertain whether a specific form of financing must be reported will find no clarification in the supply chain file itself, but in the bank's portal or through the contact person who sent out the questionnaire.