Nordic Highlights Q2 | 2023 - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Screening in Sweden and Finland

In Sweden, the Swedish Government tabled the proposal for the proposed act on screening of foreign direct investments (“FDIs”) to the Swedish parliament (in Swedish: Riksdagen) on 11 May 2023. The Swedish FDI act is expected to enter into force on 1 December 2023. As with many other EU Member States’ FDI regimes, the Swedish proposal is based on the framework provided by EU law (via Regulation 2019/452) and is expected to bring major changes to the regulatory landscape for foreign investments in Sweden.

In Finland, the current FDI screening regime has been in place since 2012, when the regime was introduced by the Act on the Monitoring of Foreign Corporate Acquisitions in Finland (172/2012, the “Monitoring Act”), and the latest major updates were made in 2020. Currently, there are plans to update the Monitoring Act again as per the new Government Program published on 20 June 2023, which refers to a reform of the Monitoring Act so that risks relating to national security, security of supply and wide-ranging influence activities are taken into account more effectively than at present.

Ever since its introduction, the FDI regime has become an integral part of any M&A transaction which is to be considered and taken into account in the transaction process and documentation.

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