Merja Kivelä

As one of Finland’s most experienced capital markets lawyers, I know the Nordic capital markets from top to bottom. I began my career as a derivatives broker, and I was involved in establishing the Finnish derivatives markets and book-entry system. Subsequently, I contributed to the combination of the Finnish and Swedish securities exchanges and the transfer of derivatives trading onto the Eurex exchange. I have also played a role in developing market regulations and practices, e.g. as the chairperson of the Securities and Finance Law Expert Group of the Finnish Bar Association from 2010 to 2015. I have comprehensive strategic insight into how the capital markets work and how public arrangements and investment instruments should be structured. I am also a trusted advisor in private M&A transactions.

I chair the shareholders’ meetings of numerous listed companies and institutions, including KONE Corporation, F-Secure Corporation, Neo Industrial Plc, Titanium Oyj and Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company. I served as the chairperson of Castrén & Snellman’s board from 2009 to 2017.

I am fascinated by exponential global transformation and the impacts of new technologies on companies and industries, and keep abreast of them in my role as a start-up investor.

I am the chairperson of the Children and Youth Foundation, deputy chairperson of Finland’s Sustainable Investment Forum (Finsif) and board member of the Climate Leadership Coalition.