28.1.2020

Castrén & Snellman, a Forerunner in Corporate Sustainability, Joins the UN Global Compact as the First Law Firm in Finland

Castrén & Snellman has been accepted to join the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. The companies and entities involved undertake to comply with the Ten Principles of the initiative on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The members of the initiative produce an annual report on the implementation of these principles.

– Sustainability has become a driver of successful business, and this is also reflected in the legal field. Castrén & Snellman has respected sustainability in its operations for a long time, says partner Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, who is leading the firm’s sustainability practice.

It feels great to bring our contribution to the impressive work of Global Compact as the first law firm in Finland. We believe that joint initiatives such as Global Compact are crucial when building a more sustainable future, Anna continues.

Global Compact has around 10,500 signatories worldwide and approximately one hundred in Finland.

Sustainability is a vital part of Castrén & Snellman’s values. C&S is a member of FIBS, Climate Leadership Coalition, Finsif and Esela. In 2009, Castrén & Snellman became a member of the WWF Green Office network as the first law firm in Finland.

Read more about our sustainability work:

Latest references

We advised Neste Corporation on the refinancing of its EUR 500 million term facility by way of two EUR 250 million bilateral term facilities provided by OP Corporate Bank plc and Danske Bank A/S, Finland Branch.  Each term facility has a maturity of three years with extension options.
Case published 25.11.2025
We are assisting Prisma Properties AB in a sale and leaseback arrangement with Kesko Oyj comprising ten grocery retail properties. The transaction value is approximately EUR 59 million, and the properties are located in Sastamala, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta, Vihti, Oulu, Saarijärvi, Liminka, Imatra, Loviisa, and Eurajoki.  As part of the arrangement, the properties are leased back to Kesko Oyj under lease agreements with a weighted average lease term of 11.6 years. The portfolio includes well-known store concepts such as K-Citymarket, K-Supermarket, and K-Market.
Case published 20.11.2025
We advised the urban developer and construction company YIT on the drafting and negotiation of two construction agreements with the leading algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets for the development of two data centres in Kajaani, Finland, which are part of XTX Markets’ data centre complex. The first agreement, valued at approximately EUR 100 million and signed in December 2024, marked the commencement of the construction of the first data centre facility in Kajaani, establishing Kajaani as a strategic hub for high-performance computing infrastructure.  Building on the success of this collaboration, YIT and XTX Markets entered into a second agreement in August 2025 to commence construction of a second data centre facility. This phase includes the delivery of the shell and core of the new building.
Case published 20.11.2025
Castrén & Snellman acted as legal advisor to Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. in its capacity as sole lender and hedging bank providing senior financing to Olana Energy for a Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) portfolio in Finland. Our advice included preparing a legal due diligence report on the projects as well as advising on the negotiation of the various finance and project agreements. Olana Energy is a management-owned fast-growing independent power producer with an international pipeline of over 1 GW. The diversified portfolio of assets ranging from 5 to 30 MW reinforces the Finnish grid at a granular level.
Case published 18.11.2025