Information services and details on beneficial owners

The Finnish Patent and Registration Office provides details on beneficial owners entered in the Trade Register to contract clients or as a document order.

The details on beneficial owners are not public in the same way as other company details entered in the Trade Register. However, the information about whether the notification of beneficial owners has been registered is public.

Use the search on the start page of our Virre Information Service to check if there is a notification of beneficial owners registered for the company or organisation. The registration of a notification of beneficial owners is indicated in the basic details of the company or organisation. Go to Virre Information Service.Open link in a new tab

On this page, you will find answers to the following questions:

• Who can have access to the details on beneficial owners?
• What details does an extract about beneficial owners contain?
• How much does an extract about beneficial owners cost?
• As a contract client, how can I get extracts about beneficial owners?
• How can I order an extract about beneficial owners as a document order?

Who can have access to the details on beneficial owners?

The PRH provides details on beneficial owners to those whose purpose of use of the details is in accordance with the Act on Money Laundering. In practice, these include the following:

• Finnish supervisory authorities defined in the Act on Money Laundering;
• companies defined in the Act on Money Laundering who have an obligation to know their customers (such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, real estate agents, auditors);
• media representatives; and
• other parties whose purpose of use of the details is in accordance with the Act on Money Laundering.

A purpose of use in accordance with the Act on Money Laundering means that the details are used to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, or to promote the disclosure of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The PRH collects details on the clients to whom they provide details on beneficial owners. Read more about the privacy statement for the information service about beneficial owners.

What details does an extract about beneficial owners contain?

The PRH is developing the information service about beneficial owners in stages. In the initial stage, an extract about beneficial owners is available and it contains the beneficial owner details of an individual company.

The details in the extract are in Finnish or Swedish, according to the language of the company's notifications.

The extract about beneficial owners includes the following details:

Company identification details (name, Business ID, registration date, company type, place of registered office, contact details)

Details on registered beneficial owners:

• date of birth;
• full name;
• nationality;
• municipality of residence, or home country of a person living abroad; and
• the extent of ownership and voting rights, or the fact that the role as a beneficial owner is based on other actual control.

If the company has filed it has no beneficial owners, the extract contains the following entry:

The organisation has no actual beneficial owners or no beneficial owners have been able to be identified. In this case, the board of directors or general partners of the organisation, or the managing director or any other person in a corresponding position are considered as actual beneficial owners.

How much does the extract about beneficial owners cost?

The price of the extract about beneficial owners as a document order is 7 euros/statement (VAT 0%), and possible delivery and invoice costs 12 euros (VAT 0%).

Those who need a large amount of details on beneficial owners should consider becoming a contract client of the PRH Virre Information Service. For contract clients, the price of an electronic extract about beneficial owners is 0.75 euros + VAT 24%. The initial fee is 200 euros + VAT 24%. The annual fee for the user name is 22 euros + VAT 24%.

The contract clients receive an invoice on their online purchases once a month.

How can I get extracts about beneficial owners as a contract client?

As a contract client, you have access to the extracts on beneficial owners online in the PRH Virre Information Service. Please note that the extracts are only available in Finnish or in Swedish according to the language of the company's notifications.

To place your order:

1. Fill in and sign the contract form and indicate the users.
   
   Open the form: Virre Client Contract (pdf, 0.1 MB)
   
2. Fill in the report on the purpose of use.
   
   You must have a purpose of use of the details that is in accordance with the Act on Money Laundering.
   
   Open the form: Licence application (Virre contract client) (pdf, 0.1 MB)
   
3. Send the contract form in two signed copies to the PRH. Include the report on the purpose of use. Send the forms with its enclosures to:
   
   Finnish Patent and Registration Office
   Customer Support
   FI-00091 PRH, Finland
   
   We create user names and passwords for the persons you have indicated. The user names are personal. A representative of the PRH signs the contract and sends it back. After this, we will send you the user names.
4. The PRH verifies your identity.
   
   We must verify the identity of the person using the details and identify the party making the contract.
   
   When we are processing the contract, we may ask that the person who has signed the contract to identify themselves online.

How can I order an extract about beneficial owners as a document order?

You can order a single extract about beneficial owners as a document order.

Processing the order takes 2–3 working days.

To place your order:

1. Fill in and file the document order form.
   
   Go to the document order form.
   
2. Fill in the report on the purpose of use and send it to the PRH.
   
   You must have a purpose of use of the details that is in accordance with the Act on Money Laundering. Fill in the report of the purpose of use and send it as secure email. Select the PRH Registry as the recipient. Read more about secure email and send the message.
   
   Open the form: Report on the purpose of use (document order) (pdf, 0.1 MB)
   
3. The PRH verifies your identity.

We must identify the person using the details. When processing your order, we may ask you to identify yourself online.

You can also purchase extracts about beneficial owners at our customer service in Helsinki. Hand in the report on the purpose of use and present a passport or an identity card. Go to the contact details of our customer service.