Stock exchange and other trading venues
The operation of a regulated market (a stock exchange) requires authorisation by the Ministry of Finance. Authorisation may be granted to a Finnish limited liability company or to an European public limited company (Societas Europaea) that has received similar authorisation in another EEA state and intends to move its registered office to Finland.
The Ministry of Finance grants authorisation for a stock exchange upon application if, on the basis of the account received, it can be ascertained that the applicant and its planned operations meet the requirements laid down for operating a stock exchange. In addition, the owners of the stock exchange must be reliable and they must not have significant conflicts of interest between the operation of the stock exchange and any other holdings or business activities they may have. Before granting authorisation, the Ministry of Finance requests an opinion from the Bank of Finland and the Financial Supervisory Authority.
Any company that has been granted authorisation for operating a stock exchange may additionally maintain a multilateral trading facility and an organised trading facility.
A multilateral trading facility or an organised trading facility may be operated only by a stock exchange, a credit institution, an investment firm or a branch of a third-country firm that has been granted an authorisation. For more information on the authorisation and notification procedure for stock exchanges, credit institutions, investment firms and third-country firms, see under each supervised entity.
The operator of a multilateral trading facility (MTF) may apply to the Financial Supervisory Authority for registration as a growth market for smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) if at least half of the companies listed on that market are SMEs.
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Should you have any questions, please send them by email to MiFIDquestions(at)fiva.fi
Stock exchange operating in another EEA state
If the stock exchange intends to provide investment service providers or other persons established in another EEA state with direct access to trading on a regulated market, it must notify the Financial Supervisory Authority of this well in advance. The notification must include further details on where and how the access to trading would be provided. A similar notification requirement applies to multilateral and organised trading facilities operated by the stock exchange.
Foreign stock exchange operating in Finland
Before an operator of a regulated market / a stock exchange authorised in another EEA state can provide an investment service provider or other person established in Finland with direct access to trading on its market, the authority of the state granting authorisation must make a notification to the Financial Supervisory Authority. In this respect, it is recommended that the operator of a regulated market / the stock exchange authorised in the EEA state should contact the authority of the state granting authorisation. For third-country stock exchanges intending to operate in Finland, authorisation from the Ministry of Finance is required.
Operation of a multilateral or organised trading facility from Finland to abroad
Operators of multilateral or organised trading facilities who intend to provide an investment firm, a credit institution or other person established in an EEA state with direct access to trading on a multilateral or organised trading facility must notify the Financial Supervisory Authority of this well in advance. A similar notification requirement applies to multilateral and organised trading facilities operated by the stock exchange.
An investment firm intending to start the provision of operation of a multilateral or organised trading facility in a third country must notify the Financial Supervisory Authority well in advance of the services or operations the investment firm intends to provide and the state and the manner in which they will be provided.
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- Should you have any related questions, please send them by e-mail to MiFIDquestions(at)fiva.fi
- Cross-border operation of Investment services providers
Operation of a multilateral or organised trading facility from abroad to Finland
Operators of multilateral or organised trading facilities established in another EEA state may provide Finland with direct access to trading on their markets. This requires notification to the Financial Supervisory Authority by the authority of the state granting authorisation to the operator of the multilateral or organised trading facility. In this respect, it is recommended that the operator of the multilateral or organised trading facility authorised in the EEA state should contact the authority of the state granting authorisation.
Multilateral trading or organised trading facilities may also be operated by a branch of a third-country firm within the meaning of the Finnish Act on Investment Services.
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