Finnish regulatory authority has recently mandated that an investment service provider is required to acquire authorization to operate in the Finnish financial market. Authorization is granted by either a Finnish authority or by a corresponding foreign authority, depending on the location of the service providers’ home countries.
Finanssivalvonta (Fiva), or the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), is the new authority for supervision of Finland’s financial and insurance sectors,, responsible, as of January 1, 2009, for most of the supervisory functions previously undertaken by the Financial Supervision Authority and the Insurance Supervisory Authority.
FIN-FSA authorisation is mandatory for service providers from outside the EEA that are seeking to operate in Finland. The regulations in the applicant's home country must meet with the internationally accepted rules governing financial supervision and the recommendations pertaining to the effective prevention of criminal abuse of the financial system. Deposit guarantees and investor protection schemes of foreign financial firms doing business in Finland are also to match those provided for in Finland.
