A view of Oslo seen from the roof of the Oslo Opera House in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's new, tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The fund has been an international leader in the environmental, social and governance investment field. It owns 1.5% of the world's listed shares across 8,800 companies, and its size carries influence.in October, the fund's ethics watchdog has been investigating whether more companies fall outside its permitted investment guidelines. The letter said that the scope of exclusions was "expected to increase somewhat" under the new policy.
The fund's ethical rules are set by Norway's parliament. The updated ethics definition by the watchdog results partly from a July opinion by the International Court of Justice regarding Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.The court took positions on "several new facts and legal issues" that could make "companies with a less direct connection to violations of norms" in breach of the ethics rules, the letter said without providing examples.