Today, Norges Bank’s Executive Board has received a letter from the Supervisory Council regarding the employment of a new CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. Norges Bank is now working on Nicolai Tangen’s employment contract and will take the comments into account in this work.

“We make note of the Supervisory Council being of the opinion that it is unfortunate that not all conflicts of interest between Nicolai Tangen’s finances and the role as CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management were clarified before his employment. In our letter of 29 April 2020, the Executive Board addresses why specific solutions to ensure sufficient distance could not be in place until after the employment had been made public”, Governor Øystein Olsen says.

“Work is in progress to ensure that necessary distance is established between the Government Pension Fund Global, the AKO system and Nicolai Tangen’s personal wealth. In accordance with the premises for the Executive Board’s decision of 24 March, the very starting point is that Nicolai Tangen will no longer exercise ownership or have control over AKO’s management”, Olsen says.

The relevant circumstances will be part of Nicolai Tangen’s contract of employment, which is to be discussed by the Executive Board on 27 May according to plan. The contract of employment will be made public.

One premise for the work with this contract is that Nicolai Tangen will make the necessary arrangements, even though it might have negative tax consequences for him.

The Supervisory Council also has comments on the hiring process and the enforcement of Norges Bank’s rules of ethics. 

“We take the Supervisory Council’s comments into account. In its letter of 29 April, the Executive Board has said that we will consider the need for clarifying relevant provisions in the bank’s rules of ethics, Øystein Olsen says.