Finland integrates supervisory authorities

23 May 2008

The Finnish Government announced a plan to integrate the supervisory authorities of the financial and insurance sectors. The new legal provisions would enter into force in time to allow the new supervisory authority to start operating on 1 January 2009.

The Finnish Government announced a plan to integrate the supervisory authorities of the financial and insurance sectors, and submitted a bill to Parliament to merge the existing Financial Supervision Authority and Insurance Supervisory Authority to create a single national supervisory authority.

 

The new legal provisions would enter into force in time to allow the new supervisory authority to start operating on 1 January 2009.

 

The new authority's objective would be to enable balanced operation of credit, insurance and pension companies and other supervised entities in stable financial markets, secure the rights of the insured and foster overall public confidence in financial market operations. The authority would supervise the financial market activities of the supervised entities as stipulated in the legal provisions governing financial supervision. The authority would also be responsible for promoting compliance with good practice and to disseminate general knowledge about the financial markets.

 

The new authority's duties would be largely the same as those of the two existing supervisory authorities.

 

Press release