Finland proposes Shareholder Rights Directive changes

Voting at Finnish companies is set to get a whole lot easier following an announcement from the Finnish government which will see Finnish company law brought into line with the EU Shareholder Rights Directive. Now that the contents of  the Bill have been decided and presented to parliament, the aim is to bring the amendments into force with effect from 3 August 2009.

The move to harmonisation will require amendments to Finland’s CSD system with changes to record dates and share ownership notification periods. The legal changes are just the first step and ministry officials will be liaising with various governance stakeholders in coming months to ensure that all bases are covered. As currently proposed, meeting materials will be available ‘at least 3 weeks before the meeting’. With current custodian deadlines in Finland running at 15-20 days before the meeting there is still some way to go before timely informed voting can be achieved but the signs are at least promising.