FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Julia Pekkala, Mikko Leppä, Risto Sandvik and Nuutti Kortelainen, HPP Attorneys Ltd
13.4 Consolidation In practice, consolidation is possible only with express party agreement. Article 14 of the FAI Rules includes an express party agreement allowing for consolidation when all claims in the arbitrations are made under the same arbitration agreement, or when the claims arise under different but non-contradicting arbitration agreements and are in connection with the same legal relationship. When deciding whether to consolidate arbitrations, the FAI Board will take into account any relevant circumstanc - es brought to its attention by the parties. 13.5 Binding of Third Parties Finnish law adheres to the principle of privity of con - tract and, as such, third parties can only exceptionally be bound by an arbitration agreement or award. Generally, with a few exceptions, assignees and suc - cessors of a party will be bound by arbitration agree - ments and awards. In addition, third parties benefit - ting from the agreement or having a right of recourse relating to the agreement (such as the insurer or guar - antor of a party) will generally, with some exceptions, be bound by an arbitration agreement. The so-called group of companies doctrine and piercing the corpo - rate veil are very rarely applied in Finnish legal praxis, if at all. Finnish courts do not have statutory jurisdiction to bind third parties (foreign or domestic) to arbitral agreements. The courts will, however, respect an arbi - tration agreement where a party to a court proceed - ing invokes their right to have the dispute resolved in arbitration.
and respondents agree to submit the dispute to arbi - tration under a mutually acceptable framework. The only exemption to this general rule is the redemp - tion (squeeze-out) procedure under the Finnish Lim - ited Liability Companies Act, where the redemption price payable by the majority (> 90%) shareholder to the minority shareholders is determined through a statutory arbitration procedure. 13.2 Ethical Codes Other than the requirements set out for arbitrators in the Arbitration Act (see 4.5 Arbitrator Requirements ), there are no mandatory ethical codes or other pro - fessional standards that would apply to counsel and arbitrators in Finland. Finnish attorneys-at-law must comply with the Finnish Bar Association’s Code of Conduct when acting as an arbitrator or counsel in arbitral proceedings. It is currently somewhat uncertain whether licensed legal counsel are required to adhere to their statutory code of conduct when they act as arbitrators or counsel in arbitral proceedings. 13.3 Third-Party Funding There are no statutory regulations concerning third- party funding in Finland. In other words, third-party funding is not prohibited and is used in practice, espe - cially in international arbitrations seated in Finland. Article 21.5 of the FAI Rules obligates the parties to disclose the existence and identity of third-party funders. While ad hoc proceedings do not have a specific rule regarding the matter, similar disclosure is nonetheless advisable.
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