The Chancellery of the Prime Minister updates the guidelines on the purchase and sale of shares by politicians in the government. Politicians taking office must choose between selling, freezing or handing over the management of shares.
“We had a few competence cases this summer. As a result, I have announced that we will take a closer look at the guidelines for buying and selling stocks. Now we did. In addition, we received a thorough assessment from the Legal Department, which is the basis for the new guidelines. The changes will make it easier, among other things, to make good assessments of impartiality, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre
The changes are intended to prevent conflicts of interest. Prime Minister Støre stresses the importance of impartiality. The new rules are to ensure that politicians make the best decisions for the community. There are also general principles of fairness and confidentiality in stock trading. Particular caution is required from politicians due to social trust. Shares and financial interests must be public and registered with Parliament.
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– Politicians decide their own personal finances and, in principle, are free to invest like everyone else. But at the same time, there are good reasons why political leadership has some restrictions on the right to invest. It's about avoiding role conflicts and conflicting interests. It is important for people to be sure that the decisions we make are in the best interest of the community, says the Prime Minister.
There are a number of rules that apply to everyone who buys and sells shares, such as insider information and integrity rules.
– We politicians are completely dependent on trust, so we must be especially careful in our financial dispositions. Therefore, it is important to be transparent about the shares we hold and our financial interests. Property and financial interests must be registered with the Storting according to rules that the Storting sets at any time, says Støre.
I want full transparency and orderliness of the situation - Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt
The case concerns Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. She received new information this summer about her husband's purchases and sales of shares in listed Norwegian companies while she was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On August 22, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the advice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked her husband to sell all listed shares. He did it the same day. Information about the companies in which the man had shares was made public.
On the basis of new information and at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Legal Department of the Ministry of Justice and Crisis Preparedness to assess the case.
“I want full transparency and order in the situation. I am very sorry that I made wrong assessments. I take full responsibility for this situation, says Huitfeldt.
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Source: regjeringen, Photo: UD/Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt
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