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Forms
of Business in Finland
Enterprise
Finland - Establishing a Business
The
Finnish Business Information System (BIS)
National
Board of Patents and Registration - Trade Register
Online
Forms, Notices and Applications
Opening
a Finnish Corporate Bank Account
Additional
Links
Business
can be conducted as a private entrepreneur, as a partnership
or limited liability company formed of one or more individuals
or legal entities, or a co-operative. A foreign entrepreneur
may also establish a branch in Finland. In certain circumstances,
those not resident/domiciled in the EEA need a permit
from the National Board of Patents and Registration.
Enterprises must submit a basic declaration
to the trade register using the start-up notification,
with which they may also apply for registration in the
trade register, employer register, prepayment register
and/or VAT register. (See BIS,
the Trade
Register, & forms
below)
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Enterprise
Finland - Establishing a Business
Direct links to Enterprise
Finland. Please note expanded
menus on linked pages.
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The
Finnish Business Information System (BIS)
The Business
Information System (BIS) is jointly maintained by
the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland
and the National Board of Taxes.
BIS enables
businesses to report their company information to both
authorities in one single notice. Businesses
and corporations no longer need to report the same information
on separate forms
to both the Trade Register and the registers kept by
the tax administration.
The Business
Information System includes businesses and corporations
entered into the
- Trade Register
- Foundations Register
- VAT register
- Withholding Tax Register &/or
- Employer Register
All businesses and corporations to
be entered into the Business
Information System are given a Business Identity
Code (Business
ID).
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National
Board of Patents and Registration - Trade Register
The
Trade Register is a public data bank on Finnish
business information. It is a Register that establishes
rights, with the function of serving and supervising
business life. By providing legal effects specified
by law, the Trade Register protects businesses and those
who transact with them.
The Register can deliver official information
on businesses all over Finland. Contracting parties
can obtain useful information from the Trade Register
concerning, for example, the existence of a certain
company, its articles of association, its representatives
and submission of the latest annual accounts for registration.
Register entries are accessible both to the public and
to authorities. Visit
site
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Online
Forms, Notices and Applications
By law, notices and applications to
the various registers must be completed in either Finnish
or Swedish. The forms are jointly created by the National
Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR) and the Tax
Administration, and through the Business Information
System enterprises may report their details on
a single form to the following Registers of those
two authorities:
- The Trade Register
- The Foundation Register
- The Prepayment Register
- The Employer Register
- The VAT Register, and
- The Client Register kept by the Tax Administration
All BIS forms
are downloadable in Finnish and in Swedish.
Recently BIS has prepared bilingual
(English and Finnish) versions of its most common
forms to make completion easier. These include various
start-up notifications and notifications on amendments
or termination of business. Go
to BIS forms page
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Opening
a Finnish Corporate Bank Account
Opening an account for your company
is quite simple apart from the interminable waits encountered
due to increasingly understaffed banks. Generally an
account can be opened at any branch when the following
documents concerning the company are presented:
1. Extract from the Trade Register
(no older than three months)
If the company has not yet been registered, the extract
from the Trade Register can be replaced by:
- a register certificate
indicating that a declaration of establishment has
been submitted to the registration authorities and
- documents of incorporation
(for example for a limited company, memorandum of
association, articles of association and the minutes
of the constitutive meeting of shareholders).
2. An extract from the minutes
of the company's decision-making body, which
indicates the names of those officials of the company
authorised to use the account and their authorizations,
the decision to open an account, possible lending and
submitting of collateral.
3. An account of incoming
and outgoing payments; their volume and the size
of individual payments.
4. An account of the company's
operations (more detailed than the official line
of business clause).
5. Other accounts (e.g.
information on companies having shareholdings in the
company etc.)
The required documents and information can be submitted
either in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Banks
See also Banking
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