About

The legal department of Elenia, the Finnish utility company, is widely regarded as a well-run and proactive function. General counsel Teemu Hovi describes the role and responsibilities of the legal team as having ‘developed immensely’ during the last two years. The team grew from one to three members in a short period of time, in an expansion that saw Hovi promoted to the senior management team. The team has provided a substantial contribution to post-acquisition development projects and corporate reorganisations, in addition to the refurbishment of the organisation’s financing program by way of a whole business securitisation in 2013, the first of its kind to be applied to a non-UK European utility. Many within the organisation deem this to be an impressive feat as it resulted in positive implications for Elenia’s investment program, provided a platform for access to long-term capital markets and additionally aided company development projects and M&A activity. The team considers their most tangible impact to be the recent developments of risk management in the various fields of compliance; this has been a particularly challenging act due to highly sophisticated requirements under the current corporate and finance structure as well as a difficult regulatory environment. The industry-specific legislation and regulation was reformed significantly as the new Electricity Market Act came into force in 2013. The legal team successfully ensured that regulatory guidelines applicable to electricity distribution businesses were aligned with company processes.