Concurrences Foreign Direct Investment Guide: Finland Chapter Written by Hannes Snellman’s Lawyers

Hannes Snellman’s Partner Mikko Huimala and Associate Niko Haarahiltunen have contributed to the Finnish chapter of the Foreign Direct Investment Guide published by Concurrences, offering a comprehensive overview of Finland’s foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regime.

Below are some of the key takeaways for foreign investors and their advisers considering investments in Finland.

• Finland applies a broad, control‑based FDI screening regime with no monetary thresholds. Notification obligations are triggered by acquiring 10%, 33%, or 50% of voting rights or corresponding actual influence in a screened entity, regardless of transaction value, target size, or turnover. Incremental acquisitions and indirect changes of control are captured.
• Mandatory screening focuses on defence and security, while other critical sectors face a call‑in risk. Although filings are formally voluntary outside the defence and security sectors, authorities retain discretion to require notification for companies deemed critical to Finland’s vital societal functions, including energy, telecoms, health care, transport, and food supply.
• FDI reviews are generally predictable, with limited enforcement intervention in practice. Reviews are typically completed within two to three months, remedies are imposed only rarely, and based on publicly available information, no transactions have been formally blocked or sanctioned, though some deals have been abandoned during the review process.

The full chapter is available here.

Comprehensive and practical in its approach, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) guide combines a comparative perspective with analytical precision, making it an invaluable tool for both practitioners and policymakers.

Concurrences is an independent legal publisher, dedicated to antitrust law and competition economics.