Supervisory priorities
As in previous years, the FIN-FSA’s supervisory priorities in 2025 relate to operational and financial risks in an uncertain environment. In addition, supervisory priorities will be guided by new regulations and their enforcement; the Artificial Intelligence Regulation, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the supervision of sustainability reporting will present new areas to be supervised. The FIN-FSA will also be responsible for the supervision of new authorised supervised entities, such as crypto-asset providers and the pension provider KEVA.
Inspections and thematic assessments in the various supervisory sectors
Each year, the FIN-FSA carries out a number of inspections of individual supervised entities as well as thematic assessments of groups of supervised entities in accordance with its supervisory priorities. The priorities of European supervisors and the risk-based approach also guide the FIN-FSA’s inspections and assessments.
The priorities of the ECB’s banking supervision for 2025 focus on banks’ ability to withstand immediate macro-financial threats and severe geopolitical shocks (priority 1). Banks are also urged to remedy persistent material shortcomings in an effective and timely manner (priority 2) and to tackle emerging challenges stemming from the use of digitalisation and new technologies and properly mitigate the risks associated with them (priority 3). The supervisory priorities are based on last year’s priorities.
Of Finnish banks, Nordea, OP Financial Group, Danske Bank and Municipality Finance are under direct ECB supervision, but the FIN-FSA conducts supervision in Finland in cooperation with the ECB. Where applicable, the FIN-FSA will also follow the same priorities in the supervision of smaller credit institutions under its direct supervision.
In 2025, the FIN-FSA will focus its thematic assessments of banks on topics related to credit risk and lending. Inspections will focus on the soundness of corporate governance and the use of internal models.
In banks and payment services, the FIN-FSA’s inspections and assessments will cover themes related to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing as well as supervision of compliance with sanctions.
In insurance supervision, thematic assessments will focus on investment expenses, solvency calculation and valuation of assets and liabilities. The use of automated decision-making and the manner of implementation of agent activities will also be assessed. In addition, inspections will focus on the soundness and arrangement of corporate governance, issues related to outsourcing, and risk management.
Supervision of capital market participants will assess, among other things, the application of IFRS standards, sustainability reporting and the marketing of crypto-asset services. Together with the European Securities Market Authority (ESMA), an assessment will be conducted of themes related to compliance and internal control. Inspections will also focus on, among other things, cyber risk management, listed companies’ compliance with obligations, and management of the sustainability risks of fund management companies.
Thematic assessments and inspections will be reprioritised if events in the operating environment so require.