Historical archive

EU Commission proposal on SWF

Historical archive

Published under: Stoltenberg's 2nd Government

Publisher: Ministry of Finance

- Norway welcomes the recent communication on a common European approach to Sovereign Wealth Funds from the European Commission. The announcement contributes to the ongoing work in the IMF on establishing a voluntary code of conduct for SWFs, says Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen.

On February 27 the EU Commission put forward a proposal to the European Council on sovereign wealth funds and financial stability.

- Norway welcomes the recent communication on a common European approach to Sovereign Wealth Funds from the European Commission. The announcement contributes to the ongoing work in the IMF on establishing a voluntary code of conduct for SWFs, while simultaneously reaffirming the European Union’s commitment to open markets for foreign capital, says Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen.

Norway also support the ongoing work in the IMF and the OECD in studying the effects of SWF, and the drawing up of best practice guidelines for SWF investments and recipient countries regulations respectively.

- A high degree of transparency is essential to be able to build and maintain support for the Government’s management of the petroleum wealth, which entails running large budget surpluses and building up substantial and very visible financial assets.
We are of the opinion that the high degree of transparency characterizing the management of the Pension Fund - Global does not compromise the return of our Fund. However, our investment strategy has focused on well diversified financial investments in highly liquid markets. Costs of transparency can be higher for a strategic investor in less liquid markets, says Minister Halvorsen.