Press release 30 April 2018

FIN-FSA Annual Report 2017: Financial sector has remained stable

According to the Annual Report 2017, published in English today by the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), the Finnish financial sector has remained stable. However, changes in the operating environment and the competitive landscape as well digitalisation pose challenges to the profitability of the sector.

Structural changes taking place in the financial sector have a significant impact on banking, insurance and employee pension sectors.

Digitalisation is driving incumbent institutions to respond to competition stemming from outside the traditional financial sector as well as changed customer expectations. In assessing how the prerequisites for authorisation are met by new market participants, the FIN-FSA considers, among other things, the applicant's data protection, data security, and preparation for cyber risks.

Despite the change of the operating environment and investments in digitalisation, supervised entities must be able to manage their core business, put enough effort in risk management and meet the requirements for good governance.

"Knowing one's own operations, limits of authorisation, and responsibilities is the core duty of company management. Digitalisation brings many new opportunities to the financial sector. For example, cloud services, big data and artificial intelligence enable innovations and new services," states Anneli Tuominen, Director General of the FIN-FSA.

In addition to the 2017 focus areas and the state of financial markets, the Annual Report also addresses the new Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and supervision of the sale of investment products.

Further information

  • Anneli Tuominen, Director General
  • Requests for interviews are coordinated by FIN-FSA Communications, tel. +358 9 183 5030, weekdays 9.00–16.00

The corresponding Finnish-language Annual Report 2017 and press release were published on 15 March 2018.

Read the reports:​