Market infrastructure – Finland
Institutions and organisation
Stock exchange – Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd is the main trading place for Finnish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, as well as financial futures and options.
Stock exchange activities within the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd are operated under the provisions of the stock exchange licences possessed by Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S, Nasdaq Stockholm AB, Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd and Nasdaq Iceland hf.
Nearly all exchange trades are settled at the Finnish central securities depository (CSD), Euroclear Finland.
CSD – Euroclear Finland Ltd (EFI)
APK became EFI (a subsidiary of Euroclear SA/NV) in February 2009 and is supervised by the Financial Supervision Authority of Finland. APK was initially established in 1997.
EFI-eligible instruments have been settled on the European Central Bank’s TARGET2-Securities (T2S) settlement system since 11 September 2023.
All securities in EFI are dematerialised and held as book-entry positions.
Regulatory structure
The Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance grants licences for securities and derivatives exchanges and stockbrokers, and also confirms the self-regulatory rules of these organised exchanges.
The Financial Supervision Authority (FIN-FSA)
FIN-FSA was established following the Banking Supervision and Securities Market Acts in order to supervise the banks, stockbrokers, finance companies, securities, derivatives markets and the Finnish CSD. Its fully automated system monitors trading in the securities and derivatives markets on a real-time basis.
Although FIN-FSA is an independent decision-making authority, it operates in connection with the Bank of Finland for administrative purposes.
Bank of Finland
The Bank of Finland is the national central bank of Finland and as such participates in the preparation and decision-making related to the Eurosystem monetary policy and executes decisions on monetary policy. In addition, the Bank of Finland is responsible for the stability of the payment and financial systems in Finland.