Laid down by Norges Bank’s Executive Board on 21 January 2015 and last amended on 8 February 2023 with effect from 1 June 2023.

1. Authorisation and background

The mandate has been laid down pursuant to Section 2-4, sixth paragraph, of the Central Bank Act and Section 2-2 of the Rules of Procedure for Norges Bank’s Executive Board.

2. Purpose

The Ownership Committee is a preparatory and advisory working committee for the Executive Board. The Committee shall help to strengthen and streamline the Executive Board’s work on matters related to the Bank’s responsible investment activities and decisions on observation or exclusion of companies from the investment universe of the GPFG. The Ministry of Finance’s mandate for Norges Bank’s management of the GPFG^[1] and the guidelines for observation and exclusion^[2] sets the framework for the Bank’s work on such matters.

3. Appointment and organisation

The Ownership Committee comprises three members and is chaired by the Deputy Governor with special responsibility for following up the management of the GPFG. The other two members are chosen from among the Executive Board’s external members. The members are appointed for one-year terms.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and the General Secretariat shall provide the Committee with the necessary assistance. The General Secretariat functions as the Committee’s secretariat.

4. Meetings

The Ownership Committee meets when the Committee deems it necessary. An annual plan shall be prepared for the meetings.

The Ownership Committee decides itself who from the administration is to attend.

Joint meetings may be held with other committees as necessary.

5. Responsibilities and authorisations

The Ownership Committee is answerable to the Executive Board for the performance of its tasks. The Committee’s activities do not change the responsibility of the individual Executive Board member or of the Board as a whole.

The Committee may on its own initiative request an account by the administration of topics and preliminary assessments of which the Committee finds a need for further clarification and that may later become an item of business for the Executive Board.

6. Tasks

The tasks of the Ownership Committee focus on strengthening and streamlining the Executive Board’s work on matters pertaining to the Bank’s responsible investment activities and decisions on observation or exclusion of companies from the investment universe of the GPFG. The Ministry of Finance’s mandate for Norges Bank’s management of the GPFG^[3] and the guidelines for observation and exclusion^[4] sets the framework for the Bank’s work on such matters.

On behalf of the Executive Board, the Ownership Committee shall prepare matters for discussion that pertain to:

• The Bank’s work in the area of responsible investment activities, including the Bank’s annual reporting on responsible investment, principles for responsible investment activities and the Bank’s instruments for supporting these principles in the management of the GPFG.
• Decisions on observation or exclusion of companies, and reversals of such decisions, in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Finance for observation and exclusion of companies from the GPFG.

Each year, the Committee shall evaluate its own performance.

7. Distribution, minutes, reporting etc

To the extent possible, discussion documents shall be made available to Committee members five days prior to Committee meetings.

The Ownership Committee submits a written recommendation to the Executive Board with an account of what has been discussed and otherwise reports from its meetings at subsequent Executive Board meetings. A possible recommendation may also be that a matter be sent back to the administration for further consideration.

On the basis of matters submitted by the administration, the Committee shall issue a recommendation for decisions on exclusion and observation of individual companies before these matters are submitted to the Executive Board for a final decision.

Minutes of Ownership Committee meetings are submitted at Executive Board meetings for information.

[1] Regulation of 8 November 2010 No. 1414, Management mandate for the Government Pension Fund Global.

[2] Regulation of 18 December 2014 No. 1793, Guidelines for observation and exclusion of companies from the Government Pension Fund Global

[3] Regulation of 8 November 2010 No. 1414, Management mandate for the Government Pension Fund Global.

[4] Regulation of 18 December 2014 No. 1793, Guidelines for observation and exclusion of companies from the Government Pension Fund Global