Amendments to Business Prohibitions Act sent out for comments

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment requests for comments on the draft proposal for amendments to the Act on Business Prohibitions and the Trade Register Act. The deadline for submitting comments is 18 June 2024.

The Ministry proposes that, in future, criminal conduct in business or a business prohibition imposed in a country of the European Economic Area could be taken into account in the overall assessment of whether a prohibition on pursuing a business should be imposed in Finland. In addition, provisions would be laid down on the exchange of information concerning a prohibition on pursuing a business. The proposal is related to the implementation of the Company Law Directive (EU) 2017/1132 as amended by Directive (EU) 2019/1151.

Under the current Act, a business prohibition may be imposed on a person who, for a reason other than insolvency, has essentially neglected the statutory obligations related to business activities or who has been guilty of criminal conduct in business that cannot be considered slight. A further precondition for imposing a business prohibition is that the person’s conduct, when assessed as a whole, must be considered detrimental to creditors, contractual partners, general government finances or healthy and well-functioning economic competition.

The proposal also seeks to clarify the provision of the Trade Register Act on consulting the Financial Supervisory Authority.

The government proposal is due to be submitted in August 2024. The amendments should enter into force as soon as possible, in any case no later than 1 January 2025.

Inquiries:

Jyri Oksanen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 504 7123