The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) ( da, Finanstilsynet) is the financial regulatory authority of the

Danish government The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all of ...

responsible for the regulation of financial markets in

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. Finanstilsynet is part of the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs and also acts as secretariat for the Financial Business Council, the Danish Securities Council and the Money and Pension Panel.

History

Finanstilsynet was established on the 1 Jan 1988 with the merger of the Supervisory Authority for Banks and Savings Banks and the Insurance Supervisory Authority. In January 1990, the Supervisory Authority for Mortgage Credit Institutions was transferred to Finanstilsyne from the Danish Housing Agency. However political responsibility for mortgage credit remained with the ministry of housing and so Finanstilsynet reported to both the Minister for Housing and the Minister for Economic Affairs until 1994 when political responsibility was passed to the Minister for Economic Affairs. In November 2001 the Ministry of Economic Affairs merged with the Ministry of Business and Industry. Since then the Minister of Economic and Business Affairs has been responsible for Finanstilsynet.

Responsibilities and functions

It is responsible for regulation, supervision and collecting statistics of financial participants. These include;

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

stock exchanges A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for the ...

, securities and money market brokers, clearing and registration organizations,

insurance companies Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

pension funds A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negotia ...

s, investment companies and investment associations. Its stated aims are to: * strengthen the market's role as a disciplinary factor through enhanced transparency * intensify management's consideration of the risk profile * improve consumers' possibilities to compare prices and products among companies.

Organization structure

Finanstilsynet is run by an executive management team that report to the minister of Economic and business affairs. The executive is made up of a Director general and three deputy director generals. Each deputy is assigned a subsection of the responsibilities of the agency.

International

Finanstilsynet is a member of the

European Securities and Markets Authority The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent European Union Authority located in Paris. ESMA replaced the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 1 January 2011. It is one of the three new European Sup ...

(ESMA), which is actively contributing to the harmonisation of financial regulation in Europe. Finanstilsynet is also a member of the

International Organization of Securities Commissions The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is an association of organizations that regulate the world's securities and futures markets. Members are typically primary securities and/or futures regulators in a national jurisdic ...

(IOSCO), and is a signatory of the IOSCO multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate with other countries securities commissions.

References

External links