Mortgage credit intermediaries

Cross border activity

Cross-border activity from Finland to an EEA Member State

Finnish mortgage credit intermediary

Branches of mortgage credit intermediaries and provision of services on a cross-border basis from Finland to other Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA) (Act on intermediaries of consumer credits relating to residential immovable property (852/2016), section 15)

A Finnish mortgage credit intermediary registered in a register maintained by the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) may intermediate consumer credits relating to residential immovable property, or provide advisory services relating to such credits, in another EEA Member State, either by establishing a branch or by providing services on a cross-border basis. A mortgage credit intermediary intending to commence intermediation of consumer credits relating to residential immovable property, or the provision of advisory services relating to such credits, in one or more other EEA Member States must inform the FIN-FSA, in good time before commencement of the activity, of the services the intermediary intends to provide and in which Member State or Member States they will be provided. The establishment of a branch and the provision of services on a cross-border basis are to be reported using the appropriate notification forms, which are available with the relevant instructions, as noted below.

A notification form submitted by a mortgage credit intermediary is deemed to have been received by the FIN-FSA on the date on which the data reported in the form are correct and consistent with the data in the register of credit intermediaries. Mortgage credit intermediaries must also pay attention to the fact that, according to section 9 of the Act on intermediaries of consumer credits relating to residential immovable property (852/2016), a credit intermediary must inform the FIN-FSA, without delay, of any changes to data entered in the register of mortgage credit intermediaries.

The FIN-FSA notifies the authorities of the host Member State, within a period of one month after having received the notification form, of the data reported thereon. The FIN-FSA informs the credit intermediary, without delay, of the submission of the data to the authorities of the host Member State. The credit intermediary is entitled to commence provision of the notified services or to establish a branch in another EEA Member State one month after the date on which he was informed by the FIN-FSA that the relevant data has been submitted to the authorities of the host Member State.

Cross-border activity from an EEA Member State to Finland

Foreign mortgage credit intermediary

Branches of mortgage credit intermediaries and provision of services on a cross-border basis from abroad to Finland (Act on intermediaries of consumer credits relating to residential immovable property (852/2016), section 16)

The FIN-FSA must be notified if a mortgage credit intermediary registered in another EEA Member State intends to provide services on a cross-border basis or establish a branch in Finland. Such notification is submitted to the FIN-FSA by the authority of the credit intermediary's home Member State whom the credit intermediary has informed of the commencement of service provision in Finland. A foreign credit intermediary may commence the provision of services in Finland one month after the date on which he was informed by the authority of the home Member State that the FIN-FSA has been notified of the commencement of such activity in Finland.

A foreign mortgage credit intermediary may provide advisory services in Finland, as set out in section 4 of the Act on intermediaries of consumer credits relating to residential immovable property. According to said section, only a credit intermediary is allowed to provide advisory services concerning consumer credits relating to residential immovable property. Anyone acting as an agent for a creditor or belonging to the same group of companies as a creditor in the manner referred to in section 6 of the Accounting Act (1336/1997), or a credit intermediary having such a participating interest or associate relationship with a creditor as referred to in section 7 or 8 of the Accounting Act, is not, however, entitled to provide advisory services.

The FIN-FSA will inform a mortgage credit intermediary establishing a branch in Finland of the conditions under which the activity must be pursued in Finland in respect of areas for which there are no harmonised provisions in place, i.e. conditions required in the public interest.

Information for supervisory authorities of other EEA Member States

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued Guidelines EBA/GL/2015/19 on passport notifications for credit intermediaries under the Mortgage Credit Directive. According to the Guidelines, the competent authorities should mutually provide information on how the transmission of notifications between authorities should take place.

Restrictions applied in Finland to advisory services provided by mortgage credit intermediaries

In Finland, only a credit intermediary is allowed to provide advisory services concerning consumer credits relating to residential immovable property. Anyone acting as an agent for a creditor or belonging to the same group of companies as the creditor in the manner referred to in section 6 of the Accounting Act (1336/1997), or a credit intermediary having such a participating interest or associate relationship with a creditor as referred to in section 7 or 8 of said Act, is, however, not entitled to provide advisory services.

Language to be used by authorities in communicating notifications

The authorities of other EEA Member States may submit information in relation to notifications, and the notifications with appendices, to the FIN-FSA in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Address to which other authorities should preferably send the information in relation to notifications

The FIN-FSA would appreciate submission by the authorities of other EEA Member States of the information via electronic means at mcd.passporting(at)fiva.fi. The text ‘Notification to Finland’ should be entered in the subject field of the email message.

Where electronic submission of information is not possible, the information may be delivered by post to

Finansinspektionen / Financial Supervisory Authority
P.O. Box 103
FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland

The covering note of documentation delivered by post should indicate that it is a question of either an EEA authority's communication in relation to a credit intermediary notification or a change to the above-mentioned information.

Any queries regarding notifications may be sent electronically to mcd.passporting(at)fiva.fi, with the text ‘Information request’ entered in the subject field of the email message.