4 - Finland

Summary

Introduction

1. 4.1 Finland has implemented the Prospectus Directive as of 1 July 2005 by introducing amendments mainly to the Finnish Securities Markets Act and regulation related thereto.

2. The main statute applied to the issuance of securities to the public and to public trade in securities is the Finnish Securities Markets Act (Arvopaperimarkkinalaki, 495/1989, the ‘SMA’). The Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervision Authority have issued further regulation and guidance applicable to securities offerings.

3. The Finnish Financial Supervision Authority (Rahoitustarkastus) is responsible for monitoring the securities markets as well as the activities of key market participants. The Financial Supervision Authority is responsible for approving offering documents in Finland. The Financial Supervision Authority has also issued further regulation and guidance on the interpretation of the SMA to the offering of securities in Finland.

Application

1. 4.2 Finland implemented the Prospectus Directive by 1 July 2005 as required by the Prospectus Directive. The Prospectus Regulation was also in force and applied in Finland as of that date.

2. The Finnish Financial Supervision Authority has revised its detailed guidance related to the issuance of securities and prospectuses to reflect the requirements of the Prospectus Directive. The guidance has been issued in the form of a revised Standard of the Financial Supervision Authority consisting of recommendations for market practice and interpretative guidance related to the SMA. The revised standard took effect as of 1 February 2007.

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