The financial sector has been a “destabilising and parasitic” factor in the economy over the past decades, according to the head of the Economic and Social Council of the Netherlands (SER), Herman Wijffels.

The sector should let go of short-term thinking and put itself in the service of society, the SER and Rabobank chief said in a TV interview broadcast on Sunday.

As president of the Utrecht Sustainability Institute's Sustainable Finance Lab, to be launched in October, Mr Wijffels will begin a series of debates with the financial sector and other stakeholders. The discussions will consider whether new legislation or forms of supervision are needed to increase the value of the financial sector to society.

The SER is a key economic advisory body to the Dutch government.
 

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