The Legal 500

The banking sector is regulated by the Ministry of Finance and the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (the FSA). The FSA is responsible for the supervision of banks.

ISDA Master Agreement - changes in the way? Flawed assets, the provision under pressure

At present, security interests may only be created in IPR which forms part of the equipment of a business, and only all of the equipment of a business may be used as security, not only individual assets.

The Norwegian real estate market is recovering from the financial crisis. The number of transactions is growing, and the construction activities are increasing. The financial crisis did not hit Norway as hard as other European countries, and the political and legal stability in the country could attract foreign investors in the years to come. In this brief article, we give an outline of some selected legal and tax issues regarding investments in Norwegian real estate with the emphasis on business property.

It has been a tempestuous few years in world markets and whilst the Scandinavian model economies have survived the worst of the downturn, bankruptcies have been prevalent and the international nature of trading patterns has exposed Norwegian companies and local authorities to disputes in courts around the globe. The banking crisis has been compounded by the financial implosion of countries such as Iceland and Greece, leaving recession-hit economies already affected by increased regulatory constraints, environmental protection measures  and enhanced solvency requirements, still struggling to sustain growth.

What different types of private equity transactions occur in your jurisdiction? Over the past 10 years private equity activity has increased substantially in Norway. The increase in deals did not extend into 2009, which became a consolidation year for most private equity players in Norway, in line with the global trend.

HEARING – FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS’ PLEDGING OF THEIR OWN CUSTOMERS` ACCOUNT DEPOSITS – PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE MORTGAGES AND PLEDGE ACT.

Wikborg Rein newsletter: Norway to impose general prohibition on naked short selling Norwegian authorities intend to introduce a general ban on naked short selling of securities listed on Norwegian regulated markets in a proposal for amendments to the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The proposal, which was presented to the Norwegian Parliament in March 2010, suggests that the current prohibition applicable to investment firms should be expanded and apply to all investors.

ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) er en sammenslutning av mange internasjonale finansinstitusjoner. Et av formålene til ISDA er å legge til rette for en standardisering av unoterte derivattransaksjoner, vanligvis referert til som OTC (Over-The-Counter) derivater. Dette har ISDA gjort ved å publisere standardisert derivatdokumentasjon som 1992 ISDA Master Agreement samt 2002 ISDA Master Agreement.

Fra og med 1. januar 2010 hefter entreprenører som setter ut arbeid eller leier inn arbeidstakere, solidarisk for lønn til arbeidstakere i kontraktkjeden under seg. Dette gjelder uavhengig av om byggherren er forbruker eller næringsdrivende.

Med virkning fra inntektsåret 2009 skal faste tekniske installasjoner i avskrivbare bygg skilles ut i en egen saldogruppe "Fast teknisk installasjon i bygninger". Driftsmidler i denne gruppen avskrives med inntil 10 % av saldoverdien årlig. Det skal være en samlesaldo for hvert bygg som inkluderer alle faste tekniske installasjoner i bygget.

NORWAY TO IMPOSE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS IN RELATION TO PARTNERSHIPS Norwegian authorities intend to close a regulatory loophole according to a recently published proposal for amendments to the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Under the proposed amendment, providers of intermediary services, such as distributors of private equity funds and other closed ended collective investment schemes, must be licensed as investment firms when offering shares in partnership structures to non-professional investors in the Norwegian market.

Owners of shares in companies listed on a regulated market are under an obligation to disclose to the market the acquisition and disposal of shares and/ or rights to shares in ceratin cases. The disclosure obligarion depends upon the volume of shares and/ or rights to shares owned from time to time. Ownership in this context includes, amoungst others, transactions such as borrowing of shares and certain other transactions. 

Leveraged buyout activity in European markets has risen to unprecedented levels in recent years. A leveraged buyout, or LBO, shall for the purpose of this letter mean the acquisition of all or a substantial number of the shares in a public or private company (the “Target”) in which a large portion of the purchase price is funded with money borrowed from a bank or other third party. In structuring an LBO, the Target and/or its subsidiaries are frequently required to grant security and guarantees for loans raised by their (future) parent or parent’s holding company (the “Financial Sponsor”) in order to finance the purchase of the shares in the Target. We have below discussed the Norwegian financial assistance rules in connection with LBOs.

This chapter describes the different ways in which loans and other forms of credit can be secured, in particular mortgages, floating charges and contractual liens on stocks and bonds. It also describes the main conditions for listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange, which is the principal market for trading in shares, bonds and derivative instruments in Norway.

Background
Foreign investors looking at investment opportunities in Norway will often be faced with the choice of acquiring operating business undertakings. Norway's leftist government, in office since October, are looking into the re-introduction of a piece of regulatory legislation that was abolished in 2002. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is working on a project on state ownership. The project also includes enacting legislation regulating the acquisition of businesses. The issue came on the political agenda just before the September 2005 parliamentary election, after one of the biggest Norwegian corporations, Norske Skog, decided to shut down one of its largest and state of the art paper mills, Union in Skien, laying off several hundred workers. The shut-down occurred in spite of the operation of the mill being profitable, the reasons given by the management being that it was not profitable enough, and that there was surplus production capacity in Europe. It should be added that it is debatable whether anything could have been done with this even if the old act had still been in force.

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