Finland’s Efforts to Promote Sustainable Finance and Combat Corruption

Finland has been actively working to ensure that its financial sector is transparent and sustainable. In this article, we will explore the country’s efforts to combat corruption and promote sustainable finance.

Finland’s Progress in Fighting Corruption and Promoting Sustainable Finance

Finland has made significant strides in promoting sustainable finance and combating corruption. The country’s national anti-corruption strategy aims to intensify the fight against corruption in the short term and build a society where attempted corruption is not successful. However, despite these efforts, there are still areas where Finland falls short.

Areas for Improvement

• Regulatory Framework: While Finland fulfils 60% of OECD criteria for risk management regulations, it only meets 5% of these criteria in practice. This implementation gap highlights a lack of consistency and harmonization across ministries and agencies.
• Lobbying Transparency: The country’s lobbying register does not include information on the names of individual lobbyists or specific legislation targeted by lobbying, which undermines transparency.
• Access to Information Law: Finland has a comprehensive access to information law, but allows fees to be charged for retrieving, reproducing, or mailing information.

Strengths in Fighting Corruption and Promoting Sustainable Finance

Finland’s national anti-corruption strategy has broad coverage and refers to several international legal instruments relating to public integrity. The country fulfils 53% of OECD criteria on the quality of its strategic framework and 63% for implementation in practice.

Some notable strengths include:

• National Audit Office: The National Audit Office of Finland discloses information regarding breaches and investigations, and has certified auditors on its payroll.
• Political Party Transparency: All political parties have submitted annual accounts within the timelines defined by national legislation and their financial accounts are publicly available on a single online platform.
• Internal Audit Implementation Rate: Finland’s implementation rate of internal audit recommendations (80%) and public organisations covered by internal audit regulations (100%) are above the OECD average.

Challenges in Fighting Corruption and Promoting Sustainable Finance

Despite its strengths, Finland still faces challenges in its efforts to combat corruption and promote sustainable finance. The country’s regulatory framework needs to be more effective in preventing and detecting corruption, and the implementation of internal audit regulations is inconsistent across ministries and agencies.

To address these challenges, Finland should consider strengthening its regulatory framework, improving transparency in lobbying activities, and enhancing public access to information.

Conclusion

Finland has made significant strides in promoting sustainable finance and combating corruption. However, there are still areas where the country falls short. By addressing these challenges and building on its strengths, Finland can make further progress in ensuring that its financial sector is transparent and sustainable.