The Hague introduced a permit requirement three years ago for businesses in shopping streets where the risk of criminal money is high.
The requirement now applies in the Weimarstraat, the Beeklaan, the Paul Krugerlaan, the Goeverneurlaan, the Jan Luykenlaan, the Van Baerlestraat and, most recently, the Hoefkade.
Applicants go through a special screening, part of a wider streets approach aimed at shops that seldom see a customer and are suspected of laundering criminal money.
Research commissioned by the city in the Weimarstraat and Beeklaan found that several dubious businesses had closed and been replaced by owners who improved the mix of shops.
Most residents surveyed said liveability and safety in the area had improved.
The city said more than fifty business owners on the Hoefkade and the squares beside it feature in criminal investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud.
Mayor Jan van Zanen has said that dishonest firms leave as soon as they are checked, making room for honest ones and taking the trouble around them away.
In 2027 the city wants to extend the requirement to more areas, though it has not said which ones.
Other municipalities, the Ministry of Justice and Security and a ministerial delegation from Luxembourg have all taken an interest in how the rule works.
