Financial service providers need authorisation 

Financial market integration and technological developments have increased the choices available to customers. At the same time, while the possibilities for choosing a service provider have increased, so have the risks. It is therefore important for the customer to be careful in choosing a service provider, particularly as regards service providers with which the customer has had no previous experience.

Numerous operators from different industries provide services in the financial markets. Service providers often also offer their customers services or products via agents. Any service provider operating in the banking, insurance or investment industries will generally need either authorisation or registration of its activities.

Numerous operators from different industries provide services in the financial markets. Service providers often also offer their customers services or products via agents. Any service provider operating in the banking, insurance or investment industries will generally need either authorisation or registration of its activities.

These pages present the types of service provider operating in the financial markets to which FIN-FSA grants authorisation or whose operations are registered, and whose activities are supervised by FIN-FSA. The pages also contain warning lists of service providers whose procedures are being investigated for appropriateness, or whose possibly questionable activities have been drawn to FIN-FSA’s attention by a foreign supervisory authority.

Authorised service providers are subject to supervision

In order to provide financial services in Finland, both domestic and foreign entities must either obtain authorisation from an appropriate authority or must be registered as a service provider. Being an authorised service provider means the service provider is subject to supervision. The supervising authority may be either FIN-FSA or a comparable foreign supervisory authority. Supervisory authorities monitor the operations of the entities they supervise and whether they fulfil the requirements incumbent on them as authorised service providers.

The entities supervised by FIN-FSA include Finnish

  • deposit banks (eg commercial banks, member banks in the amalgamation of cooperative banks, local cooperative banks, savings banks and limited liability savings banks)
  • financing institutions (eg fund management companies and credit card companies as well as the Mortgage Society of Finland and mortgage banks)
  • investment firms
  • fund management companies
  • insurance companies (non-life insurance companies, local mutual insurance associations, life insurance companies, employee pension companies, industry-wide pension funds and company pension funds) and insurance intermediaries (insurance agents and brokers)
  • other entities in the insurance sector (eg unemployment funds and sickness and benefit funds)
  • payment institutions.

FIN-FSA monitors the state of the financial markets and the institutions under its supervision, the quality of information provided to customers and investors and the practices observed in the financial markets. Supervision is risk-based, which means there is a particular focus on the highest-risk market participants, products and business models.

You can obtain further information on FIN-FSA supervision via the link on the right of the page (See more). Authorisation or registration of a service provider can be checked in our lists of supervised entities and notifications.

Foreign service providers

FIN-FSA also participates, to a limited extent, in the supervision of foreign service providers with branches in Finland or that provide cross-border services in Finland.

The single-licence principle applies within the European Economic Area (EEA). Accordingly, a service provider that is authorised to operate in a single EEA country can conduct its authorised operations throughout the EEA. The provision of services in another EEA country is conditional on notifying the authorities. A list of the service providers that have provided such notification of service provision in Finland is included in our list of notifications.

Service providers from outside the EEA must either acquire FIN-FSA authorisation or marketing permission, or register. Information on authorised companies is available in our lists of supervised entities and notifications.

In respect of a foreign service provider not included in FIN-FSA’s list of supervised entities or list of notifications, authorisation can be checked directly through the supervisory authority in the service provider’s home country.

20 September 2012