Poor economic development in 2023 weakened the operating environment of Finland’s financial sector and kept risks high. The strong solvency of the financial sector, however, provided protection against the risks brought by a deteriorating operating environment.

“Cyber risks have increased and preparedness for them must be constantly strengthened. At the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), we enhanced monitoring of cyber security as well as the integrity of payment systems during 2023, even though no significant cyber incidents were detected in the Finnish financial sector in this period,” states FIN-FSA Director General Tero Kurenmaa in his review, published as part of the 2023 Annual Report.

During the year, the FIN-FSA gained new supervisory responsibilities, as the enforcement of financial sector participants’ compliance with sanctions and other consumer credit providers came under its supervision. Increasing regulation also added to the FIN-FSA’s supervisory responsibilities: the year under review saw the entry into effect of the DORA Regulation, aimed at ensuring digital operational resilience, the ESAP Regulation, creating a single point of access to information mandatorily reported and disclosed by companies, and supervision of ESG risks and disclosure requirements.

“The objectives of all these reforms are to be welcomed: strengthening the protection of non-professional investors, promoting consumers’ and companies’ access to and utilisation of financial information, and strengthening the digital resilience of the financial sector. New and increasing regulation also compels the supervisor to renew its own operating practices, develop its expertise and maintain good communication with supervised entities and other stakeholders,” states Kurenmaa.

The FIN-FSA’s annual report discusses, among other things, the state of the financial sector, the adaptation of supervision to the evolving operating environment, and significant themes of the year under review:

·Real estate risks increased as a result of weak economic development and rising interest rates

·The FIN-FSA’s thematic assessments examined the current state of climate and environmental risk management in the banking and insurance sectors

·Sanctions as part of the FIN-FSA’s supervisory work

·Proactive and predictable supervision

The Annual Report is published as a website (in Finnish), and it will also be published in Swedish and English later in the spring.

For further information, please contact:

FIN-FSA Communications, tel. +358 9 183 5030, Mon-Fri 9.00–16.00.

Read the reports:

·Annual Report 2023 website (in Finnish)

·The FIN-FSA Board’s report 2023 to the Parliamentary Supervisory Council (pdf, in Finnish)