Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

a (Finnish for registered association) or (Swedish) is a registered,

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The abbreviations (Finnish) or (Swedish) are used as a suffix ending of the association's name, added when the association is officially registered. Registration is not mandatory, but is required in order for the association to become a juridical person, which confers various benefits. Registration requires the association to create a legally sound constitution, which must be approved by the

Finnish Patent and Registration Office Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Said constitution must contain provisions outlining the association's policies regarding language, its home address, its intended purpose and forms of activity, membership fees, its government board, accounting and bookkeeping, revision of the constitution, assembly meetings and how the association's property is to be utilised in the event of its dissolution. Registered associations can have both individual persons and legal persons as its members. The association must have a government board consisting of at least three members, out of whom the speaker must be at the

age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...

(18 years), the rest at least 15 years old. In principle, if the constitution provides for it, every member who is at least 15 years of age has one vote during board meetings, board elections and other votes. When an association is officially registered, it becomes a

juridical person A juridical person is a non-human legal person that is not a single natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person such as a corporation, government agency, NGO or International (inter-governmental) Organization (suc ...

with

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

ality separate from those of its individual members and gains the right to own property and make contracts on its own behalf independently of its members, and it ensures the legal enforceability of its constitution. At the same time, the individual members no longer personally hold responsibility for the association's liabilities. In 2021, Finland had around 108,000 registered associations, down from 130,000 in 2011.

Related types of Finnish companies

* ''Avoin yhtiö'', ''ay'', general partnership * ''Kommandiittiyhtiö'', abbreviated ''ky'', limited partnership * , abbreviated ,

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the lia ...

(in , abbreviated )

References

External links

Finnish Register of Associations

at the Finnish Patent and Registration Office Non-profit organisations based in Finland {{Nonprofit-org-stub