HELSINKI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- With Swedish bank Nordea moving its headquarters to here from the start of October, Finland becomes one of the leading countries in the eurozone in banking.

In terms of the volume of the banking sector in relation to the GDP, Finland now shares the sixth position with the Netherlands, surpassed by Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta and France.

With the ceremonial clinging of the bell at Nasdaq Helsinki -- signaling the return of Nordea from Stockholm -- national pride was mixed with awareness of the increased risks.

Anneli Tuominen, director of the Finnish supervisory authority of financial institutions, said on Monday the fact that Finland is in the European banking union reduces the risks.

In her opinion, the European Central Bank is stricter than any national authorities. "If a bank faces a crisis, the losses would be primarily covered by the owners of the bank and its investors. The next step would be the use of the crisis funds required from the banks," Tuominen said.

Interviewed on the national broadcaster Yle, Tuominen acknowledged the problem that as of yet there is no European level deposit protection system. "There has been certain political opposition to creating such protection," she noted.

She underlined, however, that if a major bank meets a crisis, the situation would not be solved via deposit protection but through crisis management.

Tuominen also said the Finnish control authority has hired twenty more people and will add more for the control of Nordea. Tuominen believed Nordea itself will later increase its risk management staff based in Helsinki. Enditem

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