insurer wants to know how much turnover we make per country why is that relevant

Turnover per country indicates something about risk distribution and exposure

The insurer wants to know in which countries the enterprise is actually active, not only where it is registered. Turnover per country is the most concrete measure for this: it shows whether a business operates predominantly domestically, or whether a substantial part of the income comes from countries with a different risk profile — think of sanctions risk, political instability or increased money laundering risk. For transport insurance, credit insurance and liability insurance with international cover, this is directly relevant to the premium and acceptance.

The same question is often linked to other elements of client due diligence that the insurer must perform anyway. If there is turnover in a country on a sanctions list-related watch list, there is a good chance that the question will also be asked whether the enterprise or one of its directors is listed on a sanctions list. And because international turnover often leads to questions about the structure behind the enterprise, the same list regularly also includes the question who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the company. If the chain file has no numerical breakdown per country — only total turnover — then there is no source to confirm a percentage or amount per country, and that part remains open for manual completion.

Legal basis: client due diligence from the Wwft

This question does not come from the Trade Register Act 2007 — that mainly establishes who the enterprise is and who manages it, not where the turnover comes from. The basis lies in client due diligence from the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act: insurers as Wwft institutions are obliged to assess the risk profile of a client, and geographical distribution of turnover is a standard indicator of increased risk there.