OSLO — The ethics council of Norway's $1.6-trillion wealth fund says it is investigating whether companies in which it holds shares fall outside its permitted investment guidelines due to the war in Gaza.The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, which owns 1.5% of the world's listed shares across 8,800 companies, operates under ethical rules set by parliament, and over the years has divested from nine companies, all Israeli, over activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Companies to be excluded are not named until the fund has sold the shares.Council probing firms active in all Palestinian territoriesThe council is also taking a fresh look at companies that could be involved in ethical breaches throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, Brandtzaeg said."Due to the seriousness of the breach of norms, Israel is now more in focus than before," he said.