Latest news with #ethics review
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Norway wealth fund excludes six companies linked to West Bank, Gaza
OSLO/COPENHAGEN: Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude another six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestments were possibility could be that among them are Israel's five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund's ethical latest exclusions bring to 23 the number of Israeli companies the fund has been divesting from since June 30. That number may rise.'More companies could be excluded,' Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told the fund holds stakes in 38 Israeli companies, totalling 19 billion crowns ($1.9 billion) in investments, down from 61 companies totalling 23 billion crowns, as of June 30, the fund's operator, Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a letter dated latest announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund's investments in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.'This debate helps sharpen our practices,' said say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information between them to identify problematic companies exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company can pose too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not.'With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future,' said Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments.
Asharq Al-Awsat
13 hours ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund to Exclude Six Israeli Companies Linked to West Bank, Gaza
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude another six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli investments. The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestments were completed. One possibility could be that among them are Israel's five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund's ethical watchdog. The latest exclusions bring to 23 the number of Israeli companies the fund has been divesting from since June 30. That number may rise. "More companies could be excluded," Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. Currently the fund holds stakes in 38 Israeli companies, totaling 19 billion crowns ($1.9 billion) in investments, down from 61 companies totaling 23 billion crowns, as of June 30, the fund's operator, Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a letter dated Monday. REVIEW The latest announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. The reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund's investments in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled out. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. "This debate helps sharpen our practices," said Stoltenberg. Critics say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical breaches. Stoltenberg said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information between them to identify problematic companies quicker. Ethical exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company can pose too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not. "With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future," said Stoltenberg. Last Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments.
Reuters
15 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund excludes six Israeli companies linked to West Bank, Gaza
OSLO/COPENHAGEN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, will exclude another six Israeli companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio following an ethics review, it said on Monday. The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said they would be made public, along with specific reasons, once the divestments were completed. One possibility is they include Israel's five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund's ethical watchdog. Separately, the fund said it had also sold stakes in six other companies following a decision last week to only hold stakes in Israeli companies that are part of the fund's benchmark index. As of August 14, the fund had 19 billion crowns ($1.86 billion) invested in 38 companies listed in Israel, the fund's operator Norges Bank Investment Management said, a reduction of 23 companies since June 30. "More companies could be excluded," Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. The fund launched an urgent review earlier this month after reports that it had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. The reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund's investments in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled out. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. "This debate helps sharpen our practices," said Stoltenberg. Critics say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical breaches. Stoltenberg said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information to more rapidly identify problematic companies. Ethical exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company poses too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not. "With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future," said Stoltenberg. Last Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments. ($1 = 10.1890 Norwegian crowns)
Zawya
17 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Norway wealth fund excludes six companies linked to West Bank, Gaza
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli investments. The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude, but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestment was completed. The announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. The fund's ethics council watchdog said it would continue to assess Israeli companies every quarter. Exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's ethics watchdog. The fund had also separately sold stakes in several other companies that were not part of the ethics review, it said, following a decision last week to only hold stakes in Israeli companies that are part of the fund's benchmark index. As of August 14, the fund had 19 billion crowns ($1.86 billion) invested in 38 companies listed in Israel, it said, noting this was a reduction of 23 companies since June 30. The number of companies will decline further once the six ethics-based divestments are made, it said. The fund announced last Monday that it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. ($1 = 10.1932 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
Reuters
20 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Norway wealth fund excludes six companies linked to West Bank, Gaza
COPENHAGEN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli investments. The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude, but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestment was completed. The announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. The fund's ethics council watchdog said it would continue to assess Israeli companies every quarter. Exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's ethics watchdog. The fund had also separately sold stakes in several other companies that were not part of the ethics review, it said, following a decision last week to only hold stakes in Israeli companies that are part of the fund's benchmark index. As of August 14, the fund had 19 billion crowns ($1.86 billion) invested in 38 companies listed in Israel, it said, noting this was a reduction of 23 companies since June 30. The number of companies will decline further once the six ethics-based divestments are made, it said. The fund announced last Monday that it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments. Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. ($1 = 10.1932 Norwegian crowns)
