Modernising financial assistance rules in Finnish company law

The Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act (624/2006 as amended) (the Companies Act) currently imposes a prohibition on financial assistance codified in Chapter 13 s 10. This provision prevents limited companies from granting loans assets or security to facilitate the acquisition of their own shares or those of their parent company subject to limited exceptions for employee share schemes. While the prohibition implements Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 relating to certain aspects of company law Finland has historically extended its scope beyond the directive by applying it to not only public limited companies but also private companies.

Legislative context and proposed reform

The ongoing broader reform of the Companies Act seeks to modernise this framework. A report issued in 2025 by a Finnish Ministry of...