Latest news with #BetShemeshEngines
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund to announce measures on Israeli investments on Tuesday
OSLO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund will announce changes to the handling of its Israeli investments, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, ruling out any blanket withdrawal over the war in Gaza. The fund itself said it would provide an update on its Israeli investments on Tuesday. The government this week launched an urgent review of the investments over ethics concerns linked to the war in Gaza and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. "I see several measures over time, but what can be addressed quickly, must be done quickly," Stoltenberg told a press conference after holding his second meeting with fund officials in three days. He did not say what these measures could be, but added that there would not be a wholesale divestment from all Israeli companies. "If we did that, it would mean we are divesting from them because they are Israeli," he said. The review followed local news reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group, Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd (BSEL) opens new tab, which provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets, creating a political debate in the Nordic country ahead of elections on September 8. On Wednesday, the fund's ethics watchdog, which checks that the fund's investments respect ethical guidelines set by parliament, acknowledged it should have considered Bet Shemesh Engines for possible divestment. Bet Shemesh did not reply to requests for comment. Stoltenberg said that one question being discussed between the finance ministry and the fund was its use of external portfolio managers for some of its holdings. He said Bet Shemesh had been handled by an external manager, which he did not name. The fund said it uses three Israeli external fund managers for some of its holdings in the country. The fund, which owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, held shares in 65 Israeli companies at the end of 2024, valued at $1.95 billion, its records show. It has sold its stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecoms group in the last year, and its ethics watchdog has said it is reviewing whether to divest holdings in five banks. Pro-Palestinian campaigners have said this is not enough and have called for a country-wide divestment by the fund. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund to announce measures on Israeli investments next week
OSLO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund will next week announce changes to the handling of its Israeli investments, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, ruling out any blanket withdrawal over the war in Gaza. The government on Tuesday said it had launched an urgent review of the fund's investments over ethics concerns linked to the war in Gaza and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. "I see several measures over time, but what can be addressed quickly, must be done quickly," Stoltenberg told a press conference after holding his second meeting with fund officials in three days. He did not say what these measures could be, but added that there would not be a wholesale divestment from all Israeli companies. "If we did that, it would mean we are divesting from them because they are Israeli," he said. The review followed local news reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group, Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd (BSEL) opens new tab, which provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets, creating a political debate in the Nordic country ahead of elections on September 8. On Wednesday, the fund's ethics watchdog, which checks that the fund's investments respect ethical guidelines set by parliament, acknowledged it should have considered Bet Shemesh Engines for possible divestment. Bet Shemesh did not reply to requests for comment. Stoltenberg said that one question being discussed between the finance ministry and the fund was its use of external portfolio managers for some of its holdings. He said Bet Shemesh had been handled by an external manager, which he did not name. The fund said it uses three Israeli external fund managers for some of its holdings in the country. The fund, which owns stakes in 8,700 companies worldwide, held shares in 65 Israeli companies at the end of 2024, valued at $1.95 billion, its records show. It has sold its stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecoms group in the last year, and its ethics watchdog has said it is reviewing whether to divest holdings in five banks. Pro-Palestinian campaigners have said this is not enough and have called for a country-wide divestment by the fund. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Norway Orders Review of Israeli Companies Held in $1.9 Trillion Oil Fund
Norway ordered a review of Israeli investments held in the country's $1.94 trillion sovereign wealth fund after receiving complaints that some might be contributing to Israel's military action in Gaza. Norway's ministry of finance, headed by former North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Jens Stoltenberg, has written to the country's central bank and the oil fund's ethics council to review the investments and provide an assessment within 15 days of any measures that are deemed necessary. 'In light of the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and Gaza, and the fact that questions have been raised about the fund's individual investments, the Ministry of Finance wants a renewed review of the investments in Israeli companies,' it said in a statement. The wealth fund is managed by Norway's central bank, but decisions to exclude companies from the portfolio are made based on recommendations from an ethics council appointed by the ministry of finance. The council's job is to scrutinize investments to ensure they comply with a strict set of ethical guidelines. Following an ethics council recommendation late last year, the oil fund sold out of Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq over concerns the company could be contributing to human-rights violations as it provides services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Bezeq didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The latest move to seek a full review of the oil fund's Israeli investments comes after Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported earlier this week that the fund had increased its investment in Bet Shemesh Engines over the last couple of years—a company it claims maintains fighter jets used in the Gaza offensive. Bet Shemesh Engines didn't respond to a request for comment. The company states on its website that it works with the Israeli military. The fund held a 2.1% stake in the company, valued at $15.2 million at the end of 2024. That marks a sharp increase from the $3.6 million valuation at the end of 2023, after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that started the war. Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of the oil fund, said in an interview Tuesday with Norwegian national broadcaster NRK that an investment in Bet Shemesh Engines was made in 2023 and that the stake has increased since then. He said the fund has a mandate to invest in Israel, but decisions on investments in individual companies is up to the ethics council. 'Being invested in Israel is a political question, it is not a decision we make in the oil fund,' he said. 'We must have a very clear division of roles here, and we carry out the mandate that we have.' The fund is currently invested in around 65 Israeli companies. The oil fund was set up in the 1990s to convert Norway's vast oil wealth to global financial assets, partly to shield the country's budget from oil-price fluctuations. It has a stake in more than 9,000 companies globally, equivalent to holding 1.5% of every listed company in the world. Write to Dominic Chopping at
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Norway fund's ethics watchdog acknowledges shortcoming in scrutiny of Israeli investment
OSLO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The ethics watchdog for Norway's $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Wednesday it should have considered whether a company that services Israel's fighter jets ought to be assessed for possible divestment. The influential fund's holdings in Israel - nearly $2 billion of shares in 65 companies at the end of 2024 - have been under greater scrutiny since the Gaza war with pro-Palestinian activists globally calling for Israel to be shunned. The Norwegian fund stakes in an Israeli energy company and a telecoms group in the last year, and its ethics council it is reviewing whether to recommend divesting holdings in five Israeli banks. On Monday, Aftenposten daily said the fund had built a stake in 2023-24 in Israeli jet engine group Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd (BSEL) ( opens new tab that provides services to the armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. Norway's government ordered a review of the fund's portfolio on Tuesday to ensure that Israeli companies contributing to the occupation of the West Bank or the war in Gaza were excluded. It gave 15 days to the watchdog, called the Council on Ethics, and the fund's operator, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), to report back. The Council on Ethics said it had assessed sellers of aero engines, including Bet Shemesh, some time ago, in relation to a guideline about companies selling weapons to states who use them in violation of conflict norms. The firm's activities were assessed not to be within that scope, Aslak Skancke, chief advisor to the council, told Reuters. However, maintenance probably should have been considered, he added. Bet Shemesh did not reply to a request for comment. The nearly two-year Israeli offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians and devastated the Gaza Strip in response to an attack by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,200 Israelis. The watchdog investigates whether companies the fund invests in break ethical guidelines set by parliament and makes recommendations. But the final say lies with the board of the Norwegian central bank, which operates the fund. Separately on Wednesday, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg called in fund chief Nicolai Tangen, Central Bank Chief Governor Ida Wolden Bache and Council on Ethics chief Svein Richard Brandtzaeg, to a meeting about the review. "During the meeting, the finance minister underlined the seriousness of the case as well as its significance and that the review must happen as soon as possible," the finance ministry said. NBIM declined to comment, citing the impending review. Tangen told public broadcaster NRK that Bet Shemesh had not been on any list of companies, established by non-government organisations or other bodies, recommended for divestments. The fund held a 2.09% stake in the company at the end of 2024, the latest fund data available, worth $15 million. That was up from $3.6 million at the end of 2023, the year it began investing in Bet Shemesh. The fund's investments in Israel are managed partly internally and partly by external management companies, the fund told Reuters, declining to give further details. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the sovereign wealth fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The fund owns 1.5% of the world's listed shares across 8,800 companies.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Norway orders review of Israeli companies held in $1.9 trillion oil fund
Norway ordered a review of Israeli investments held in the country's $1.94 trillion sovereign wealth fund after receiving complaints that some might be contributing to Israel's military action in Gaza. Norway's ministry of finance, headed by former North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Jens Stoltenberg, has written to the country's central bank and the oil fund's ethics council to review the investments and provide an assessment within 15 days of any measures that are deemed necessary. 'In light of the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and Gaza, and the fact that questions have been raised about the fund's individual investments, the Ministry of Finance wants a renewed review of the investments in Israeli companies," it said in a statement. The wealth fund is managed by Norway's central bank, but decisions to exclude companies from the portfolio are made based on recommendations from an ethics council appointed by the ministry of finance. The council's job is to scrutinize investments to ensure they comply with a strict set of ethical guidelines. Following an ethics council recommendation late last year, the oil fund sold out of Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq over concerns the company could be contributing to human-rights violations as it provides services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Bezeq didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The latest move to seek a full review of the oil fund's Israeli investments comes after Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported earlier this week that the fund had increased its investment in Bet Shemesh Engines over the last couple of years—a company it claims maintains fighter jets used in the Gaza offensive. Bet Shemesh Engines didn't respond to a request for comment. The company states on its website that it works with the Israeli military. The fund held a 2.1% stake in the company, valued at $15.2 million at the end of 2024. That marks a sharp increase from the $3.6 million valuation at the end of 2023, after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that started the war. Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of the oil fund, said in an interview Tuesday with Norwegian national broadcaster NRK that an investment in Bet Shemesh Engines was made in 2023 and that the stake has increased since then. He said the fund has a mandate to invest in Israel, but decisions on investments in individual companies is up to the ethics council. 'Being invested in Israel is a political question, it is not a decision we make in the oil fund," he said. 'We must have a very clear division of roles here, and we carry out the mandate that we have." The fund is currently invested in around 65 Israeli companies. The oil fund was set up in the 1990s to convert Norway's vast oil wealth to global financial assets, partly to shield the country's budget from oil-price fluctuations. It has a stake in more than 9,000 companies globally, equivalent to holding 1.5% of every listed company in the world. Write to Dominic Chopping at
