INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW

FINLAND

By
S V Krubha Shankari
18382027
 FINLAND : OVERVIEW

• Officially known as Republic of Finland

• Independence: 19 December 1917(from russia)
• Capital Helsinki
• Area 338,145 sq km
• Major languages Finnish, Swedish
• Major religion Christianity
• Currency euro (1 euro = 1.15 USD/ 81.62INR)
• Rank of ease in doing business: 17TH
• Income category : HIGH INCOME
• Population 5.5 million (5,511,303)
Government of Finland
• Established: 27 November 1917, 101 years ago
• Leader: Prime Minister of Finland (Juha Sipilä)
• Appointed by President of Finland
• Ministries: 12 (Justice, foreign affairs, education and culture…)
• GDP : $250 billion USD
• GDP per capita : $40,455
• Minister of foreign affairs : Timo Soini
• Minister of Foreign Trade and Development: Anne-Marie Virolainen
• Major trade partners : Germany, Russia, Sweden, the United
Kingdom, the United States, Netherlands and China.
 TOP IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
TOP IMPORTS TOP EXPORTS
Mineral fuels Machinery
3.5
3.7 4.9
13.9 Machinary 13 Paper
3.8 6.4

Electronics Electrical machinery

Vehicles 7.2
9.9 Mineral fuels

Plastics 12.9 Vehicles

13.6
8.3
Fe and steel products Iron
10.2
8.5
Fe and stee; Wood
Starting a business in Finland
• Easy place to do business for foreign companies and entrepreneurs
alike.

• Plenty of assistance is available, and over 6,500 Finnish businesses

have been established by people who have moved from abroad.

• To do business one will need to arrange funding, make a business

plan, select your company form, obtain any required trade-specific
permits, register your business, arrange the necessary insurance, and
organise accounting.
• Funding
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's)
• Public financing
• Business plan: You should have this for yourself as well as for consultants
and investors.
• Company form: Business can be conducted as a general partnership, a
limited partnership, a limited liability company, a cooperative, or an
entrepreneur. An entrepreneur, acts in their own name - they are not a
'company‘
• Permits: Certain types of business need a permit or license from, or
inspection by the authorities
• Registration: All new enterprises, including foreign companies starting up
business in Finland, must submit a start-up notification to the trade
register.
• Insurance: Employers and entrepreneurs alike have certain insurance
obligations.
INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP OF FINLAND
1. Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
2. Signatory to the Paris Convention For the Protection of Intellectual Property
3. Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS)
4. WTO, WHO, EU, UN, UNCTAD(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development),
UNESCO(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), IMF, Arctic council

Business Contract
• General Observation : Obligations of the vendor and the methods of quality control must be
stated clearly.

• Law Applicable to the Contract : Finland is a signatory to the Vienna Convention on International
Contracts.

• Advisable Incoterms(international commercial terms) : FINNTERMS are the terms often used in
domestic trade. Preferred and the most used general terms in are CIF(cost, insurance and freight),
FOB(free on board) and DDU(delivery duty unpaid).

• Language of Domestic Contract : Finnish, Swedish, English

National regulation and international agreements
Type of property and law Validity (yrs) International agreements signed
Patent (Patents act) 20 Patent corp. treaty
Trademark(Trademark act) 10 Trademark Law Treaty
Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement
Concerning the International Registration of
Marks
Design (Registered designs 5, renewable
act)
Copyright(Copyright act) Berne convention For the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

Industrial models (act on 4, renewable

utility model rights)
LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF BUSINESS
1. Equity of Judgments
• Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners : Yes
• The Language of Justice : Finnish and Swedish
• Recourse to an Interpreter : If necessary, interpreters can be used.
2. The Different Legal Codes
• The Constitution :Foundation of the state, rights of individuals
• The Civil Code :Civil law, right of possession, consumer rights
• The Business Code :Company law
• The Taxation Code :Taxation law
• The Work and Social Affairs Code :Work and social affairs law
• The Environment Code :Environment law
• The Penal Code :Criminal law
• The Public Code :State law, law on education, safety law
3. The Jurisdictions
• 61 District courts: divorce, the custody of children or debt adjustment.
• 6 Courts of Appeal: treason, decisions of pardoning serving a life
sentence
• The Supreme court: administration of justice by the lower courts
• 8 Regional administrative courts: contracts between authorities and
private persons
• The Supreme Administrative Court : has three chambers, appeals against
decisions of abv.
• Special Courts: Market Court, Labor Court and Insurance Court

4. Court Judges
• District Court judges
• Courts of Appeal judges
• Supreme Court judges
• The Supreme Administrative Court judges
 Arbitration Procedure can be applied only to disputes which can be settled between
INTERNAITONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION (reach a settlement) parties(business community)

Appoint of arbitrator Free determination (min.3) and method of appointment by parties

Arbitration Law Finnish arbitration laws are in substance identical to those of the UNCITRAL
Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

Conformity to Party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign
International Arbitral Awards.
Commercial Party to the Geneva Protocol on Arbitration Clauses.
Arbitration Rules Party to the Geneva Convention of the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

Arbitration Procedure After hearing the parties, the arbitrator makes an award(form of a settlement
between the parties of their dispute) which is enforced by the regional court. No
appeal is allowed against an award except if it has been made on false evidence.
In this case, it can be annulled by the law

Permanent Arbitration The Arbitration Institute of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland (Sectors
Bodies Covered: Domestic and international arbitration proceedings)
Court of Arbitration for Sport (Sectors Covered: Sports, especially doping disputes)
Major companies
• UPM-Kymmene
(paper, pulp & timber)
• Stora Enso
(paper, pulp & forest products)
• Kone(engineering)
• Metso (oil refining)
• Neste Oil
• Nokia
• Wärtsilä
(maufactures power sources for marine and energy)
References
• https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/9-637-
0854?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=tru
e&comp=pluk&bhcp=1
• https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-biggest-
industries-in-finland.html
• https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-
overseas/finland/legal-environment
• https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea
THANK
YOU