The Initial Public Offerings Law Review - Second Edition

Since 2012, the Finnish initial public offerings (IPO) market has been developing extremely well, following what was approximately five years of stagnation.

The Helsinki Stock Exchange is operated by Nasdaq Helsinki, a company belonging to the US corporation Nasdaq, which operates 26 markets worldwide. In addition to Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq operates exchanges in the Nordic countries: Sweden (in Stockholm), Denmark (in Copenhagen) and Iceland (in Reykjavik). On 31 December 2017, the number of listed companies on the regulated markets of the above-mentioned Nordic exchanges totalled 661 (excluding 10 multiple listings), and the number of companies admitted to trading on the alternative marketplaces operated by Nasdaq in the Nordic region was 323. Nasdaq Helsinki companies can be listed either on the main market (the Official List), which is a regulated market, as defined by EU legislation (and implemented in national legislation), or be admitted to trading on an alternative marketplace aimed for growth companies, Nasdaq First North (First North).

As of 31 December 2017, there were 146 companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, of which 125 companies were listed on the Official List and 21 companies were listed on First North. In addition, there were four Swedish companies parallel-listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2017, 13 companies joined Nasdaq Helsinki, which set a new record in the 2000s. Seven of these were listings on the Official List and six were admitted to trading on First North. One recent feature has been the IPOs of game industry companies; in 2017, Next Games Corporation, Remedy Entertainment Plc and Rovio Entertainment Corporation joined Nasdaq Helsinki.

There is a long-established tradition in Finland of stock exchange trading, which dates back to 7 October 1912.