Latest news with #CouncilOnEthics
Reuters
06-08-2025
- 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.
Al Arabiya
12-05-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Norway wealth fund divests from Israel's Paz Retail and Energy due West Bank activities
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has sold all of its shares in Israel's Paz Retail and Energy because it owns and operates infrastructure for the supply of fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The divestment, announced on Sunday, is the second after the fund's ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, adopted in August a tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories. The first divestment was from Israeli telecoms firm Bezeq, in December. The fund, which owns 1.5 percent of listed shares across 9,000 companies globally, operates under guidelines set by Norway's parliament and is seen as a leader in the environmental, social and governance field. It is the latest decision by a European financial entity to cut back links to Israeli companies or those with ties to the country since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Paz is Israel's largest operator of gas stations and has nine stations in the occupied West Bank. 'By operating infrastructure for the supply of fuel to the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Paz is contributing to their perpetuation,' the Council on Ethics said in its recommendation to divest. 'The settlements have been established in violation of international law, and their perpetuation constitutes an ongoing violation thereof.' Paz was not immediately available for comment outside of regular business hours. The UN's highest court last year said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, in a ruling that Tel Aviv rejected as 'fundamentally wrong' and one-sided. Divestments The watchdog makes recommendations to the board of the Norwegian central bank, which has the final say on divestments. The fund has now sold all its stock in the company. It was not immediately clear if more divestments would happen. In March, the fund's watchdog said it had cleared most of the companies it had reviewed over their activities in the occupied Palestinian territories after it launched a fresh review following the outbreak of the Gaza war. The watchdog said at the time that it had made two recommendations to divest - Bezeq in December and now Paz - but did not say whether it had made more recommendations to divest. Overall, the watchdog assessed around 65 companies in the fund's portfolio working in sectors including energy supply, infrastructure construction, travel and tourism and banking, among others.
Reuters
11-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Norway's wealth fund sells all its fixed income from Mexico's Pemex due corruption risk
OSLO, May 11 (Reuters) - Norway's wealth fund, the world's largest, has sold all its fixed income investments in Mexican state oil firm Pemex, it said on Sunday, citing what it called an unacceptable risk that the company is involved in corruption. The fund's ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, said "its investigations have revealed that Pemex may be linked to multiple allegations or suspicions of corruption in Mexico in the period 2004-2023," it said in a statement. "The Council attaches importance to the fact that a significant number of company employees, including a former senior executive, are alleged to have received bribes on several separate occasions." Pemex was not immediately reachable for comment outside of regular business hours. The $1.8 trillion fund, which owns 1.5% of listed shares across 9,000 companies globally, operates under guidelines set by Norway's parliament and is seen as a leader in the environmental, social and governance field.
Reuters
11-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund divests from Israel's Paz Retail and Energy due West Bank activities
OSLO, May 11 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has sold all of its shares in Israel's Paz Retail and Energy ( opens new tab because it owns and operates infrastructure for the supply of fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, it said on Sunday. The divestment is the second after the fund's ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, adopted in August a tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories. The first divestment was from Israeli telecoms firm Bezeq ( opens new tab, in September. The fund, which owns 1.5% of listed shares across 9,000 companies globally, operates under guidelines set by Norway's parliament and is seen as a leader in the environmental, social and governance field. It is the latest decision by a European financial entity to cut back links to Israeli companies or those with ties to the country since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
