How to get some info about Finnish company?

[vp]

Hello,
is it any official website in Finland, which could show how the things are going in a certain Finnish company - when it was created, number of personnel, isn't it bankrupt, what is shareholders capital, etc. It is not supposed to be used for spy purposes ( ), it may be usefull for doing business with that company. And only very few firms show a balance sheet and profit and loss statement and things like that...

Thanx!

[Hank W.]

Well, depends.

You can see the register entries in one place, and bigger companies (in the stock exchange) must publish a statement (usually on their webpages) etc. Small companies - no. What exactly would you have in mind. You can check the company registrations (like toiminimi's) at
http://www.ytj.fi/english/Yrit_sel2.asp ... 3&path=605

[vp]

I mean official, open for all, information - like any kind of register - when it was created, areas of acivities, any open financial figures...

[Anders]

Only companies listed on HEX (Helsinki Exchange) has to have that information publicly available. One way to find it is to visit their homepage since the information is ussually available there for their stock holders.

[PeterF]

I always use Dunn and Bradstreet.
They can give you lots of info on credit rating names of directors and pending legal problems.
http://www.dnb.com/us/

[Michael]

All registered companies should file financial statements with the Trade Register and so the information is publicly available regardless of whether the company is public or private.

Increasingly, public companies are also making financial statements available on their web sites.

There is a service available by Tietoenator. It is in Finnish but if I can just about work my way around the site so I am sure that you will be able to, given that you are interested in reading Finnish stat accounts! There is a charge for this service.

https://eportti.tietopalvelut.com/

The international accounting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG will also be able to provide desk top due diligence on publicly available financial information. Again this is not a free service. Look for their Transaction Services division.

[tjawatts]

Just because you file financial statements with the trade register it doesnt make them public. I think you can get the information that our friend wants (established, bankruptcy, credit history) possibly from the trade register or someone like D&B but it will definitely cost.

Tony

[Michael]

Sorry Tony, info in the Trade Register is publicly available. It works rather similar to Companies House in the UK. If you want to test this for yourself then walk down to the Trade Register office at:

Kaupparekisteri
Arkadiankatu 6 A
Helsinki

You just need the company name and ask them for everything they have! You can also get a lot of info about individuals if you have their name and social security number.

[Hank W.]

Including their tax return info.

Actually, now that I think of it I coult start a private detective agency catering for the (extremely rich) foreigners that have no knowledge of the publicity of information...

[tjawatts]

OK Micheal

I believe you, I wont bother checking. But look at it another way, the amount of disclosure by a private company to the trade register may not be sufficient to get an idea of the company's real financial situation. Maybe I am wrong but if it is the same as the UK it is just summaries that need to be submitted and we all know there are lots of tricks accountants can use to make those numbers look good

Tony

[Hank W.]

This is very true. And the fines/consequences of not submitting the data are minimal. Better is to read the "kauppalehti" and look for protests and bill collections.