How to buy US stocks and ETFs from Finland

This page lists the investment platforms whose own pages say they accept residents of Finland, with their licences, fees and the deposit methods available here. We only count platforms that publish a list of the countries they accept: a company that does not say whom it accepts is left out, even if it might open an account for you. Being on the list is not a recommendation.

Some verified points for Finland:

• Interactive Brokers names Finland on its list of available countries and territories. Its pages do not say which of its companies opens accounts for residents of Finland, so check the company named in your client agreement; one of them is Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. IBKR charges no fee for bank transfer deposits (your bank may), and after two free withdrawals a calendar month it charges a fee per withdrawal.
• Lightyear names Finland on its list of countries where personal accounts are available. In Europe its service is provided by Lightyear Europe AS, authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon). Lightyear says its customers’ assets are covered up to €20,000 by the Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund; crypto assets are not.
• The Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) advises investors, before making an investment decision, to “always check the Registers section of the FIN-FSA’s website as to whether the service provider is authorised in Finland or has notified its intention to provide services in Finland”. Its warning list of suspected unauthorised providers and scams “is not exhaustive and is not updated daily”.

Finland’s Investors’ Compensation Fund protects non-professional clients of its members, and “All Finnish companies that offer investment services are members”. If a member is deemed insolvent and has not paid out what it owes an investor, the Fund pays “90% of their receivables from one service provider, up to a maximum of €20,000”. It “does not cover, for example, losses due to changes in value of investments”, and no other investor compensation scheme pays for falling prices either. Bank deposits are protected separately: according to the FIN-FSA, the maximum cover of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme is “EUR 100,000 per customer and per bank”.

For US shares, the platform will ask you for Form W-8BEN. The IRS says most US-source income of a foreign person, dividends included, is taxed at 30% through a withholding tax unless a tax treaty or the tax code sets a lower rate. Finland is on the IRS list of US income tax treaties, so a lower rate may apply. Finland may tax the same dividend too, so ask the tax authority or a qualified tax adviser.