Arvopaperikeskus

Arvopaperikeskus is Finland’s central securities depository (CSD). It provides safekeeping, settlement and registrar services for Finnish book-entry securities and maintains the domestic book-entry system that records ownership of shares, bonds and other dematerialized instruments.

The CSD manages book-entry accounts for issuers, custodians and investors, and it settles securities transactions between buyers and sellers. It also handles corporate actions such as dividends and subscriptions and performs related post-trade processing, contributing to the finality and integrity of ownership transfers.

Arvopaperikeskus operates as a key component of Finland’s financial market infrastructure and collaborates with banks, custodians, issuers and other market participants to ensure safe, efficient and timely settlement of securities. Its activities underpin the operation of the Finnish securities market and support investor confidence and market liquidity.

Regulation and oversight are provided under Finnish law and EU post-trade regulation. The CSD is supervised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) to ensure compliance with risk management, settlement finality, data security and other standards required for central securities depositories and their participants.

History and role: Arvopaperikeskus was established to centralize and modernize Finland’s post-trade processes for dematerialized securities. Over time, its operations have aligned with European post-trade standards and integrated with the broader European market infrastructure, reinforcing Finland’s participation in cross-border settlement and issuances.