Legal500

White & Case

ETELÄRANTA 14, 00130 HELSINKI, FINLAND

Washington DC, Warsaw, Tokyo, Stockholm, Singapore, Shanghai , and 33 more

What we say about the firm's legal practice in Finland

Banking and finance

Within Banking and finance, White & Case LLP is a first tier firm,

‘Creative’, ‘commercial’, ‘team players’: a sample of the plethora of praise received for Roschier’s banking practice, much of which is directed at team head Gunnar Westerlund who is ‘in his own class’. Benchmark clients include Nordea Bank, SEB, and HSBC, advising the latter on a $100m loan facility to Vidéotron Ltée, guaranteed by Finnerva, the Finnish Export Credit Agency, in a transaction with Nokia Siemens Networks.

Capital markets

Within Capital markets, White & Case LLP is a first tier firm,

Undoubtedly a leader in the field, White & Case is the firm of choice for either issuer or underwriter in the majority of key transactions. It advised Nordea Bank on its $15bn US medium-term note program, and acted for Amer Sports on its €160m rights issue. Petri Haussila is ‘the best in the country’, while the team as a whole is ‘dynamic and devoted’. Petri Avikainen and Laura Huomo were promoted to partner and counsel respectively in 2010.

Corporate and M&A

Within Corporate and M&A, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

Corporate clients of White & Case have the benefit of excellent capital markets and competition capability, including access to a Brussels office. The much-praised Petri Hausilla leads the team of ‘experts’ that includes Risto Ojantakanen and Timo Airisto. Highlights included representing Altor Equity Partners in the sale of PaloDEx Holding to US public company Danaher Corporation, the first significant private equity exit in Finland following the global financial crisis.

EU and competition

Within EU and competition, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

White & Case advises a raft of multinationals on all aspects of competition and EU regulatory matters, including headline merger control and cartel investigations. Team leader Suzanne Innes-Stubb is ‘highly valued’ by clients, who also report that the firm’s network of international offices ‘is a significant asset’. The firm conducted a global merger analysis and multiple national merger filings concerning a share exchange offer by Metso.

Real estate and construction

Within Real estate and construction, White & Case LLP is a first tier firm,

Even rivals praise the practice at White & Case, which features in the majority of headline real estate acquisitions and financings in Finland and cross-border transactions. They included the ANL Kiinteistöt 1 KY deal, acting for Nordea Bank, and representing Helsinki University Real Estates on the refinancing to transfer its multimillion-euro campus portfolio. Timo Airisto is ‘very skilled and experienced’ and enjoys strong support from Tanja Törnkvist.

What we say worldwide

Please choose another White & Case LLP office to view full details of what we say in that region, or choose from this list to view a specific editorial reference in context.

United Arab Emirates

Offices in Abu Dhabi

Belgium

Offices in Brussels

China

Offices in Beijing and Shanghai

Czech Republic

Offices in Prague

Germany

Offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Dusseldorf

Algeria

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Finland

Offices in Helsinki

France

Offices in Paris

Hong Kong

Offices in Hong Kong

Hungary

Offices in Budapest

Indonesia

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

India

Offices in Mumbai

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Japan

Offices in Tokyo

Kazakhstan

Offices in Almaty

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

London

Offices in London

Philippines

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Poland

Offices in Warsaw

Qatar

Offices in Doha

Romania

Offices in Bucharest

Russia

Offices in Moscow

South Africa

Offices in Johannesburg

Sweden

Offices in Stockholm

Singapore

Offices in Singapore

Slovakia

Offices in Bratislava

Saudi Arabia

Offices in Riyadh

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Switzerland

Offices in Geneva

Tunisia

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Turkey

Offices in Istanbul and Ankara

United States

Offices in Washington DC, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and Palo Alto

Search News and Articles

Legal Developments in Finland

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

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