During the past year there has been uncertainty in the market, and in the last few weeks the challenges of the banking sector have reached Europe as well. Private equity investors have, however, remained active.

The Finnish regulatory framework for corporate governance and directors’ duties is governed by the following three Acts: the Companies Act, the Securities Markets Act and the Accounting Act.

According to the Finnish business weekly Talouselämä, the number of transactions characterised as being Finnish (either a Finnish target or a Finnish party as the seller or the purchaser), amounted to a total of 639 in 2003, a slight increase compared to approximately 625 - 630 transactions in 2002.

Amendments effective as of 1 July 2005 have been introduced in the Finnish Securities Markets Act, Act on Financial Supervision, and certain other acts (HE 137/2004).

Retail banking main processes; Payment, Deposit, and Loan process are rapidly moving from branchesto the Internet. This retail banking transformation - from branches to online banking – is an Universal phenomenon. Annually, the shift from paper-based payments to electronic payments formed in Europe on the average 5% from the total volume of cashless payment transfers in 1997 – 2001.