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Two companies excluded by National Oil Fund

One US and one Canadian company have been removed from the Government Pension Fund of Norway Abroad (National Oil Fund) due to their breaches of the fund’s ethical norms.

Both the American FMC Corporation and the Canadian Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the world’s biggest fertilizer company, will miss out on investment opportunities from the Government Pension Fund after being kicked out.

The reason the companies were removed from the fund’s list was because they buy phosphate from non-independent areas in West-Sahara, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance states.

Already in September, the Ministry asked the Central Bank of Norway to sell their shares, and that sale has now been completed. At the end of 2010 the Oil Fund owned stocks for more than NOK 1,5 billion in Potash, and for more than NOK 200 million in FMC.

The Council on Ethics also advised the Government Pension Fund to exclude the Chinese oil company Petro China due to the risk of the company’s involvement in human rights violations related to new construction. The Department of Finance chose not to follow their advice because the company is not directly linked to any unethical operations.

Alstom, a French industrial company, was also close to being removed from the fund. Instead, the company will be observed over the next four years due to suspected risk of internal corruption.

(NRK)

Julie Ryland


Written by Rolleiv Solholm

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