Rules

The rules of the Wihuri International Prize Fund Foundation comply with the requirements of the Foundations Act that came into force on December 1, 2015. The Finnish Patent and Registration Office approved the fund’s rules on April 18, 2016.”

1 § Name and domicile

The name of the foundation is Wihurin kansainvälisten palkintojen rahasto sr, in English: Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes sr. The Foundation is domiciled in Helsinki, Finland.

§2 Purpose

The purpose of the Foundation is to promote and support the cultural and economic development of humankind by awarding international prizes, in particular the Wihuri Sibelius Prize.

The activities of the Foundation must be organised on a non-profit basis.

§3 Forms of activity

The Foundation fulfils its purpose by awarding prizes in recognition of creative work that has excellently promoted and supported the cultural and economic development of humankind and by awarding a prize known as the Wihuri Sibelius Prize to prominent composers that enjoy international recognition and acknowledgement.

Prizes may be awarded to private individuals or organisations irrespective of nationality, religion, race or language.

The prizes, including the Wihuri Sibelius Prize, awarded by the Foundation are between six million and nine million Finnish marks (FIM 6,000,000 – FIM 9,000,000), but the size of the prizes may vary depending on the amount of funds available for distribution. The distribution of prizes takes place on the day the grants and prizes of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation are distributed, the 9th day of October, but may be left undistributed some years if the Foundation’s Board of Trustees so decides. However, no less than one prize must be awarded at least every three (3) years.

The prizes awarded by the Foundation, including the Wihuri Sibelius Prize, may, if the Foundation’s Board of Trustees deems appropriate, be distributed as two, or at the most, three concurrent prizes such that their total amount is equivalent to that of the prizes determined above.

If there are more assets in the general purpose fund than required for the distribution of the two (2) prizes referred to in this article, assets exceeding the amount stated in the Foundation’s general purpose fund may be transferred to the general purpose fund of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation sr for use in accordance with the rules thereof.

§4 Initial capital and donations

The Foundation’s founder, Antti Wihuri, contributed, in 1953, one thousand (1,000) Suomen Tankkilaiva Oy shares, each having a nominal value of ten thousand Finnish marks (FIM 10,000), as the Foundation’s initial capital.

The Foundation has the right to receive donations, testaments and contributions.

§5 Distribution of prizes

For the distribution of prizes, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees shall request nominations from representatives it deems appropriate in the field of Finnish science, art and economics as to who shall receive the prizes in the following manner:

For the distribution of the Wihuri Sibelius Prize, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees shall set up a Committee of Experts to which, at its discretion, the Board invites five (5) members, three (3) of which shall be chosen either from professors or music teachers at the Sibelius Academy or the University of Helsinki and two (2) from the members of the Board of the Society of Finnish Composers (Suomen Säveltäjät ry). Should these experts so decide, by majority decision, the Committee of Experts may be further supplemented by two (2) foreign experts, who must be professors holding a position in a foreign academy of music or a similar teaching position in the field of music in some other university. The Committee of Experts elects a chairperson from among themselves and its expenses and members’ fees, which are determined by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, are paid by the Foundation.

The Committee of Experts, may, if it deems appropriate, request foreign academies of music to submit a nomination or nominations to receive the prizes. These nominations must be sent to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and it is desirable to invite nominations from at least all academies of music in the Nordic countries.

The Committee of Experts must make a reasoned proposal to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees as to the recipients of the Wihuri Sibelius Prize, by nominating three candidates in random order and without giving any recommendations. The Foundation’s Board of Trustees decides at its discretion, if it considers that the Sibelius Prize should be awarded at all, which of these candidates is to receive the prize, or decide that the prize is to be shared between the candidates nominated by the Committee of Experts as provided in §3 above.

If the Foundation’s Board of Trustees decides to distribute prizes other than the Wihuri Sibelius Prize, a similar nomination procedure shall be observed for each prize winner. In such cases, a Committee of Experts is to be set up so that the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, at its discretion, invites as professorial members one (1) professor from the University of Helsinki, the School of Economics unit in Aalto University Foundation and one (1) from another school unit in Aalto University Foundation. In addition, the Board of Trustees invites two (2) other Finnish members from among the prestigious scientific societies or organisations deemed appropriate by the Committee of Experts. This Committee of Experts may also be supplemented by two (2) foreign experts in compliance with the same principles as stated above regarding the Committee of Experts for the Wihuri Sibelius Prize.

All Finnish and other Nordic universities are entitled to make nominations to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees for recipients of these prizes. The Foundation’s Board of Trustees forwards nominations received, and possibly its own nominations, to the Committee of Experts.

Any application made on someone’s own behalf will not be considered.

If someone refuses to accept a prize awarded them, or for one reason or another fails to collect and acknowledge their prize in the order determined by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees before the 1st day of October of the following year, the right of that person to the prize shall lapse.

The records of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees shall not contain entries concerning opinions expressed in considering the awarding of prizes. Neither shall these be mentioned otherwise.

§6 Asset management

The Foundation’s asset management shall be systematic.

The Foundation may engage in business activities to fund its forms of activity.

§7 Governance

The Foundation has a Board of Trustees.

The Foundation may have a managing director or an executive director and the managing director may have a deputy.

§8 Board of Trustees

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which is responsible for the governance of the Foundation and for other duties assigned to the Board under these rules and the law, comprises eight (8) members, each of whom serves for a term of office lasting four (4) calendar years at a time.

The Board of Trustees is supplemented so that when a place on the Board becomes or has become vacant, members of the Board elect new members to the Board for a four-year term of office or for the remainder thereof from among Finnish persons of merit engaged in business life or science.

In order to renew the composition of the Board of Trustees by a quarter each year, the first terms of office of the first members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees under the new Foundations Act (487/2015) will be such that:
1) the terms of office of places 5 and 6 will last until the end of 2016,
2) the terms of office of places 7 and 8 will last until the end of 2017,
3) the terms of office of places 1 and 2 will last until the end of 2018,
4) the terms of office of places 3 and 4 will last until the end of 2019,

As of 1 January 2016, the following persons have the following places:
place number 1, Vesa Kauppinen
place number 2, Arto Hiltunen
place number 3, Tapani Väljä
place number 4, Jukka Paasikivi
place number 5, Erkki Leppävuori
place number 6, Päikki Priha
place number 7, Seija Sihvola
place number 8, Risto Aarnio-Wihuri

No member of the Board of Trustees may be re-elected more than twice. However, in exceptional cases, the Board of Trustees may continuously re-elect any member of the Board where there is particular cause to do so and if the Board is unanimous in this. Nevertheless, no more than two (2) such members continuously re-elected may serve on the Board at the same time.

Members of the Board of Trustees are unpaid, although any member of the Board living in another locality receives reasonable reimbursement of travel costs.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees convenes:
1) by the end of March for the Annual General Meeting, which considers the following matters:
      a) presentation of the financial statements and report of activities,
      b) adoption of the financial statements and report of activities,
      c) decision on the use of the surplus for the previous year,
      d) decision on the number and size of prizes to be awarded in the autumn meeting, in
       which fields and how the prizes are to be awarded;

2) on the 9th day of October for the autumn meeting, which, i.a., considers the following matters:
       a) election of two (2) members to the Board of Trustees to replace those retiring by rotation
       at the end of the current calendar year,
       b) determination of the auditors’ fees,
       c) election of the chair and deputy chair of the Board of Trustees for the following year of
       activities,
       d) election of at least one (1) auditor to audit the accounts for the following financial year,
       e) decision on the budget for the following year,
       f) decision on the fees for the chair of the Board of Trustees serving as the chair of the
       Financial Committee and for the two members of the Board of Trustees elected to the
       Financial Committee
       g) election of the members elected annually to the Financial Committee,
       h) execution of the distribution of prizes and the consideration of any related questions.

The Board of Trustees convenes at the invitation of the chair or the deputy chair and is quorate if at least four (4) members are present in addition to the chair or deputy chair. In the event of any dissent in decision-making, voting will be by simple majority vote. In the event of a tie, the opinion of the chair will prevail.

In elections, candidates receiving the most votes are elected. In the event of a tie, the vote cast by the chair will prevail.

§9 Financial Committee

The Financial Committee comprises the chair of the Board of Trustees, any two (2) members of the Board of Trustees elected from among themselves for a year at a time and the Foundation’s managing director or the executive director.

The Financial Committee is quorate when three (3) members are present.

The Financial Committee is tasked with:

making proposals for the Foundation’s investment plan to the Board of Trustees and carrying out other duties related to asset management as determined by the Board,
submitting to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees at least twice a year a report on how the investment plan has been implemented,
preparing a proposal for the following year’s budget for the Board of Trustee,
preparing a proposal for the Foundation’s annual report and financial statements.

The Financial Committee convenes at the invitation of the chair of the Board of Trustees or, if the chair is prevented from doing so, by a member of the Board on the Financial Committee. In the event of any dissent in decision-making, voting will be by simple majority vote. In the event of a tie, the opinion of the chair will prevail.

§10 Managing director and executive director

The managing director or the executive director is responsible for the everyday running of the Foundation in accordance with the instructions and orders issued by the Board of Trustees and in accordance with the provisions of the law.

§11 Representing the Foundation

The chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the Foundation’s managing director represent the Foundation jointly.

The Board of Trustees may authorise the deputy chair of the Board and the executive director to represent the Foundation jointly with the chair of the Board of Trustees or the managing director, as well as jointly with another person authorised by the Board of Trustees.

§12 Financial year and audit

The Foundation’s financial year is the calendar year.

The Board of Trustees must submit the report of activities and the financial statements to the auditors by the end of March. The auditors must submit their audit report by the end of April.

§13 Amendments to the rules

These rules may be amended only if at least six (6) members of the Board of Trustees are in favour of such amendments in two (2) consecutive Board meetings held at least two months apart.

However, neither the name of the Foundation nor the purpose stated in §2 may be amended.

§14 Dissolution or discontinuation of the Foundation

In the event the Foundation is dissolved or discontinued, the assets saved must, unless otherwise provided, be transferred to the foundation known as the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for the purpose as referred to in §2 of those rules. The decision to dissolve the Foundation is valid if all members of the Board of Trustees are in favour thereof.