The Legal 500

Legal Developments in Finland

• Construction 2012

  Introduction Robert S Peckar Peckar & Abramson, PC 3
  - Mäkitalo Rantanen & Co Ltd

• Use of Legal Tools in Creating an Open Source Project or Business Model

  Written by Martin von Willebrand
  - HH Partners, Attorneys-at-Law, Ltd

• Court ruling on the Finnish CFC legislation

  The Finnish CFC legislation implies that a Finnish company may be subject to income tax for its share of the profit of a CFC regardless of whether these profits are distributed by the CFC to its shareholders or not. A CFC is defined as a foreign corporation owned and controlled by a Finnish tax resident that pays income tax in its domicile at a rate less than 60% of the Finnish corporate income tax rate.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• Cross-border merger case to ECJ

  The Finnish Supreme Administrative Court decided on 7 March 2011 (KHO 2011:21) to request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) concerning the question whether a Finnish parent company may deduct the final tax losses of its Swedish subsidiary after a cross-border merger.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• The European Commission proposes a system of common consolidated corporate tax base

  The European Commission presented on 16 March 2011 a proposal that calls for a common system for calculating the tax base of business operating in the EU. At the moment, a company active within the whole EU can be forced to comply with up to 27 different national tax systems. The new Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) seeks to reduce the administrative burden, compliance costs and legal uncertainties by creating a "one-stop-shop" system where the profits and losses across the EU could be consolidated.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• Owner's obligations at acceptance inspection clarified by the Helsinki Appellate Court

  By its decision 18 February 2011 (S09/3055) the Helsinki Appellate Court confirmed that an owner is entitled to rely on the quality assurance of a well-known construction company at an acceptance inspection. The court held that the owner is entitled to demand rectification of construction defects and to claim damages for deficiencies discovered during the guarantee period.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• Tax-neutral exchange of shares case to ECJ

  The Finnish Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) decided on 31 January 2011 (KHO:2011:10) to ask for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) concerning the question whether a tax-neutral share exchange can be completed between a company residing in an EU country and a company residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) (such as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT GUARANTEES MAY ALSO BE GRANTED BY FOREIGN EUBASED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

  In a unanimous yearbook decision the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court ruled that guarantee insurance is an adequate environmental permit security. Further, the Court, by referring to the free movement of financial services within the EU, stated that a party in an arrangement for security regarding adequate and proper security may be a financial institution based in another EU-country.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• CHANGE OF GENERATION – MINOR CONTINUING THE BUSINESS

  The Supreme Administrative Court has issued on 5 January 2011 a ruling concerning the change of generation relief of gift taxation (KHO 2011:1). In its ruling the SAC stated that the preconditions for the tax relief were not fulfilled since the donee was a minor and thus could not act as a board member in the company’s board of directors as provided for in Chapter 6 Section 10 of the Finnish Companies Act.
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd

• Public Procurement 2011

  A practical cross-border insight into public procurement
  - Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd