Insolvency Law and Covid-19: The Finnish Example on Tackling the Pandemic

Abstract

AbstractThe Finnish legislature has acted quickly to enact several temporary changes to the country’s insolvency law in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. These changes are intended to protect debtors who are suffering financially from the consequences of the pandemic. There are temporary adjustments in bankruptcy legislation as well as in enforcement law. Additionally, there are temporary restrictions on the maximum interest rate and direct marketing of consumer credit. Since the beginning of 2021, the Collection Act has also temporarily contained detailed provisions on the collection costs of non-consumer receivables.The mitigation efforts, made possible by temporary legislation, have already been used actively in the execution of enforcements. Especially applications for grace-free months and relief applications have increased. The legislature has extended the temporary validity of this ‘Covid-19 legislation’ in the different fields of insolvency law already several times.In this article, those temporary changes are introduced and discussed in the Finnish context of insolvency law.KeywordsCovid-19InsolvencyEnforcementBankruptcyLoan arrangementDownturnTemporary legislation