Finnish cooperative legislation dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century. The first Law on Cooperation [Osuustoiminatlaki] was adopted in 1901. The lawmakers of the time thought it of utmost importance to “ … pass legislation on economic associations … as the legal form of stock companies cannot apply to these associations [cooperatives]. ”

The 1901 Law on Cooperation has been replaced three times, in 1955 with the 1954 Law on Cooperatives ([Osuuskuntalaki], 28.5.1954, 247); in 2002 with the 2001 Law on Cooperatives ([Osuuskuntalaki], 28.12.2001/1488); and in 2014 with the current Law on Cooperatives ([Osuuskuntalaki], 14.6.2013/421, henceforth‘the Act’).

The consecutive changes of the cooperative law have related to the substance of the law and to its form.

As regards the substance, the changes introduced with the amendments to the 1954 Law (especially the two major amendments of 1981 and 1989) and with the 2001 law may be summarised as intended to secure the sufficient capitalisation of cooperatives, for reasons of both competitiveness and third party protection and – in order to achieve this – to reduce the legal structural differences between cooperatives and stock companies to the minimum necessary to maintain the distinctive features of cooperatives. According to the Ministry of Justice, the purpose of the current Act is to further improve the competitiveness of cooperatives by facilitating their foundation, their access to financing and their management, while preserving the minimum cooperative standards.

As regards the form, the amendments to the 1954 Law and the subsequent laws, as well as the amendments thereto, introduced as far as was possible the terminology of the Limited Liability Companies Act ([Osakeyhti ö laki 21.7. 2006/62]). Th is terminology is intended to signify neutral legal figures and to allow use of the abundant literature and jurisprudence on stock companies in the quasi absence of literature and court cases on cooperative law. The reliance on material on stock companies is one of the key reasons for the companisation of cooperatives through legislation.