The office of the Chancellor of Justice announced on Monday that Finance Minister Alexander Stubb did not intentionally deceive fellow lawmakers when he said that the vast majority of civil service experts supported government plans to modify securities laws. Among other things, the modifications would have made it easier for investors to conceal assets from tax authorities.
At the end of November, during parliamentary question time, Stubb said that 90 percent of consulted civil servant experts supported the coalition government’s plans to open up Finland’s securities custody to competition.
It later was revealed however, that the figure was the opposite - only 10 percent had been in favour - and the minister faced accusations that he intentionally lied to lawmakers.
After Stubb's statements the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat found that of the 21 officials asked to weigh in on the issue, 10 opposed it, nine refused to take a stand and two supported it .
Inaccurate, but not intentional
The Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka found that Stubb did not intentionally deceive parliament.
Saying that it is understandable that inexact comments are sometimes made during brisk parliamentary debate, the justice chancellor said there was no reason to pursue the matter further.
The Chancellor of Justice had received many complaints from the public concerning Stubbs statements to parliament in November.
In the immediate aftermath of the allegations Stubb apologised several times to parliament for the incorrect statement, and the incident led to a governmental confidence vote by the opposition.
After the statements sparked national attention, Stubb was assaulted by a man who called him a liar and splashed the contents of a soft drink onto the minister at a shopping centre in Tampere.
