15 Cash and cash equivalents

Deposits will be classified as ‘cash equivalent’ if held at banks with a maturity of less than three months at inception. Deposits will be classified as ‘current investments’ if the maturity is more than three months but less than or equal to one year. The purpose of the deposits is either to meet short-term cash commitments, or to manage liquidity to such extent, that yields are optimized, while allowing DSM sufficient freedom in fulfilling its (strategic) goals.

Cash at year-end 2020 was not being used as collateral and therefore was not restricted (same as in 2019).

In a few countries, DSM faces cross-border foreign exchange controls and/or other legal restrictions that limit its ability to make these balances available at short notice for general use by the group. The amount of cash held in these countries was €128 million (2019: €185 million). The cash will generally be invested or held in the relevant country and, given the other liquidity resources available to the group, does not significantly affect the ability of the group to meet its cash obligations