FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Olli Kiuru, Mia Rintasalo and Essi Hietaoja, Waselius
alia, prepare a key information document for each PRIIPs product that they offer to retail investors. The definition of “retail investor” derives from MiFID II and, accordingly, means an investor other than a professional client. “Professional clients” and “non-professional clients” have been further clarified in Chapter 1, Section 23 of the Investment Services Act (ISA, 747/2012). • AML – the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing is based on interna - tional standards. Specifically, the purpose is to ensure that uniform customer due diligence procedures are observed in the global finan - cial markets. Consequently, in this respect, the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Directives, which have been implemented in the national legislation of Finland, derive from the Finan - cial Action Task Force’s recommendations. In Finland, the AML provisions have been put forth in the Act on Preventing Money Laun - dering and Terrorist Financing (the AML Act, 444/2017). Finland has implemented Directive (EU) 2018/843 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (the “Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive” ) to some extent, this is broader than the Directive requires. • The European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation ((EU) 2023/1114 – MiCAR) entered into force on 29 June 2023 and establishes a harmonised regime for crypto-assets at an EU level. The Finnish Act on Crypto-Asset Ser - vice Providers and Markets in Crypto-Assets (ACASP, 402/2024) came into force in Finland on 30 June 2024, replacing the previous Virtu - al Currency Providers Act (572/2019). Among other things, ACASP governs the transition periods for the application of MiCAR to vari - ous crypto-asset service providers in Finland, and designates the FIN-FSA as the national
authority responsible for overseeing compli - ance with MiCAR. • Crowdfunding is regulated by the Finnish Act on the Provision of Crowdfunding Services (APCS, 203/2022). Crowdfunding service providers must be authorised by the FIN-FSA in accordance with the APCS and Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business. Depending on the business model undertaken, fintech companies may require authorisation, registration or notification. Authorities granting authorisations include the European Central Bank, the FIN-FSA, the Regional State Admin - istrative Agency, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, as well as the government. 2.3 Compensation Models The different compensation models vary widely depending on the chosen business model and the technical means through which the prod - ucts and services are offered. Generally, when targeting the consumer, the Finnish Consumer Protection Act (CPA, 38/1978) and the sector- specific legislation set a tight regulatory frame - work regarding the disclosure rules. 2.4 Variations Between the Regulation of Fintech and Legacy Players On a general level, regulation between fintech companies and legacy players, such as banks, does not differ due to the fact that no specific regulation applies to fintech companies. Instead, fintech companies are governed under the same financial regulatory requirements that apply to legacy players, depending on the scope of their operations and the types of services they pro - vide. Naturally, the principle of proportional - ity will be applied and serves to the favour of smaller fintech companies.
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