The cooperative must be notified for registration at the Trade Register within three months after the signature of its incorporation instrument. The notification is submitted on the Form for notification of incorporation Y1. Additionally, you must fill up Appendix Form 2 and the Personal Data Form.
The full members of the cooperative board are liable for the notification of incorporation. The notification of incorporation must be signed by a member responsible for its filing or by his or her delegate. If a delegate signs the notification, it must be accompanied by the original authorization.
The documents for notification of incorporation (the Form for notification of incorporation Y1, Appendix Form 2, and the Personal Data Form) are submitted in the form of originals. They are accompanied by:
- the instrument of incorporation in original
- the rules of the cooperative
- the record relating to the election of the chairperson of the board (if the chairperson is not designated in the instrument of incorporation)
- the evidence for the payment of the handling fee (a receipt of account statement).
NOTE! The home address of a person resident in Finland is no longer notified. The Personal Data Form is used to file the identity information of natural persons.
The instrument of incorporation must be accompanied by a declaration signed by the members of the board of directors and by the managing director to acknowledge that the Finnish Cooperatives Act has been respected during the incorporation. This declaration is submitted in Appendix Form 2 or a separate note.
When filing the notification of incorporation at the Trade Register, you pay the handling fee applicable according to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office’s price list. A separate handling fee is payable for each auxiliary trade name. The receipt of the payment is attached to the notification. Details and price lists for the handling fee are available on the site of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
The instrument of incorporation with its annexes can be sent to the Finnish Patent and Register Office by post, or you can submit it at its customer service or at any customer service of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, of any ELY center (Center for Economic Development, Transport, and the Environment) or the Tax Administration. Start-up notification forms of the YTJ site.
The site also features a start-up package containing the model forms needed to incorporate and notify a cooperative with the respective instructions. The model rules for a cooperative are intended for a corporation in need of typical standard rules, though we recommend using the model rules of this guide when drawing up your own.
You must print at least one copy of the notification form and its annexes you filled to be used by the cooperative.