Banking – Merchant Accounts – Offshore Companies – Company Formation

Finland is a nation on the Baltic Sea and is one of the Western neighbors of Russia. Finland was actually part of Russia prior to World War I and emerged after the collapse of the Russian Monarchy as an independent nation. Today, Finland is a member of the European Union and has been one of that alliance’s most productive economies. GDP in Finland is comparable on a per capita basis to the large members of the EU. A large portion of Finland’s GDP is generated through the export of goods and service throughout the Baltic region and the rest of the world.

Finland is not a traditional international financial center, however, banks in Finland are permitted to open account for non-resident foreigners. However, in most cases, banks will insist on opening any accounts in person. The banking system in Finland is monitored and regulated by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority, or FIN-FSA (http://www.finanssivalvonta.fi/eng/).

This agency was newly created in 2009 and replaced the previous Finnish Financial Supervision Authority (please note a different form of the word “supervise”). The old Finnish Financial Supervision Authority Website is no longer  being updated; however, the list of banks presented on the website at http://www.rahoitustarkastus.fi/Eng/About_us/Supervised_entities_and_notifications/commercial_banks.htm is being updated. Most likely as the Financial Supervisory Authority matures, this list will migrate to the new website. The Finnish Deposit Guarantee Fund provides the depositor compensation plan for Finland. In 2008, the coverage limit was raised from €25,000 to €50,000 per institution. This level of coverage will remain in effect at least until the end of 2009. For more information on the Finnish deposit guarantee program, visit http://www.fin-fsa.fi/Eng/Customer_protection/Funds/etusivu.htm.

Liechtenstein exists to protect the stability of the financial system as well as its clients and to ensure the reputation of the banking system in the global community. Banks operating in Liechtenstein will offer any of the services of a major banking system from deposit accounts, to credit cards and lines of credit. Some of these banks will offer deposit boxes as well as precious metal deposit services.

You do need to understand that the banks in Liechtenstein are primarily investment banks and will tend to focus on their core business of asset management. Licensed banks operating in Liechtenstein can be found on the website of the Liechtenstein Banker’s Association atwww.bankenverband.li. This site is very user friendly and is available in English. All of the member banks (there are 15 as of this writing)are listed with full contact information. While German is the official language all of the websites are accessible in English as well. Liechtenstein has established a deposit guarantee scheme through the Liechtenstein Banker’s Association. This plan is known as the “Deposit Guarantee and Investor Protection Foundation of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association”. The plan currently provides up to €20,000 in protection. For the most current information about the plan, visit the website of the Lichtenstein Banker’s Association.