Press release 18 March 2014

Annual report 2013: Finnish financial sector should be in the forefront of applying international capital adequacy requirements

– The Financial Supervisory Authority considers it essential that the regulations binding the Finnish financial sector always maintain high international standards. Finland should never be amongst the last countries to adopt new regulations, preferably it should be in the forefront, particularly regarding capital adequacy requirements. This is important to ensure that Finland's reputation remains strong and that leads to no doubts about the financial sector's sustainability, states FIN-FSA Director General Anneli Tuominen, in the Financial Supervisory Authority's Annual Report for 2013 published today.

Director General Tuominen also emphasises the importance of solutions that increase the sector's credibility. For instance, openness in related parties' transactions would eliminate unnecessary speculations over conflicts of interest.

The migration phase for the euro area to the single supervisory mechanism is now under way. The costs of this supervision will also fall on individual banks.  There have been no decisions made yet as to the fee structure. – It is essential that the national supervisors' funding is secured from the perspective of maintaining their ability to carry on their duties, Anneli Tuominen reiterates. – The supervision will be undertaken jointly and its success will require considerable effort from national competent authorities.

In the opinion of Director General Tuominen it is justifiable that the supervision of consumer protection and code of conduct should remain with the national supervisors with respect to all sectors, i.e .banks, insurance companies and the securities sector. – There are significant national differences between the financial literacy of financial sector consumers and the products available to them.

For further information, please contact

  • Anneli Tuominen, Director General, tel. +358 10 831 5300

Appendix

The English version of the FIN-FSA Annual Report will be published in April 2014.