Changes To Legislation Regarding Nominee-registered Shares

New WHT rules are applied to dividends paid as of the beginning of 2021.

With the legislation change, amendments were made to the Act on the Taxation of Non-resident Income (Laki rajoitetusti verovelvollisen tulon verottamisesta, 627/1978).

Registration as an Authorised Intermediary – Register open as of 1 January 2021

With the legislative change, Finland implements the OECD TRACE model (Treaty Relief and Compliance Enhancement model) by including direct TRACE reporting to the Finnish Tax Administration as well as the adoption of the Investor Self Declaration procedure.

The public Register of Authorised Intermediaries started operating on 1 January 2021. The new register replaces the former Custodian Register. It is not mandatory to register into the new register, but Authorised Intermediaries have certain benefits in comparison to non-registered intermediaries. Registered intermediaries can for example directly report dividend beneficiary information to the