Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority expands supervision to consumer credit providers and intermediaries through mandatory registration

The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) announced that legislative amendments will bring new consumer credit providers and consumer credit intermediaries under FIN-FSA supervision by extending mandatory registration requirements, including to some entities already supervised by FIN-FSA that provide consumer credit. The registration obligation will apply to domestic and foreign traders providing consumer credit as their main business where the credit is interest-free and free of charges, and to traders providing consumer credit as a side business to finance purchases of the goods they sell, excluding micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose credit is interest-free and free of charges. It will also apply to traders intermediating consumer credit, excluding credit institutions and micro-enterprises and SMEs that only intermediate credit as a side business to finance purchases of their own consumer goods. In addition, all FIN-FSA supervised entities that grant consumer credit will be required to register, excluding credit institutions and payment institutions where the payment institution grants credit related to payment services; entities intending to continue granting or intermediating consumer credit after the amendments enter into force on 20 November 2026 must register with FIN-FSA by that date. FIN-FSA will accept registration notifications from 20 March 2026, and applications received by 20 May 2026 will be processed by the time the Act enters into force. Further detail on registration procedures and the activities requiring registration will be provided on FIN-FSA’s website after related government decrees are published.