Palo Alto Networks and De Nederlandsche Bank Agree on Preapproved “Right to Examine” Clause

This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)

I’m pleased to announce that we reached an agreement with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on preapproved contractual language granting the DNB the “right to examine” Palo Alto Networks cloud-based services on the grounds of information security as part of its role as regulator. The agreed clause helps Dutch financial institutions meet requirements to use cloud-based security services.

The agreement is intended for those financial organizations in the Netherlands that want to use Palo Alto Networks WildFire cloud-based threat analysis and Aperture SaaS security services.

Cloud computing is gaining in popularity among financial institutions in the Netherlands, but there are statutory requirements, for example, under the Financial Supervision Act, which is overseen by DNB. One of the requirements is that financial institutions in the Netherlands are only able to use the services of cloud providers who grant the supervisory authority, the DNB, the “right to examine.” Palo Alto Networks and the DNB have now agreed on a preapproved clause, outlining the extent of DNB’s “right to examine,” which can be inserted into the agreement between Palo Alto Networks and any financial institution overseen by the DNB.

The preapproved “right to examine” clause gives DNB, among other things, the option to request independent audit reports with regard to the security of Palo Alto Networks data centers, its computers and its computing environments used to process a Dutch financial institution’s data, saving time for financial institutions, which can rely on the fact this clause meets relevant statutory requirements, instead of having to be separately negotiated.

Palo Alto Networks now joins an esteemed list of companies that have “right to examine” agreements with DNB, which can be found on De Nederlandsche Bank's website.