The politicians are put to the wall for fooling around with share purchases and their own competence. Several have admitted to having had too little of an overview. Now the rescue comes from an unexpected quarter: Siv Jensen has invested his own money in a company that offers a daily updated share register that people can look up in. – It’s nice to be part of this, especially after not delivering on it as finance minister, says Siv Jensen, investor and manager of the rescue organization Flyte. Jensen brought today’s edition of Finansavisen and a bunch of media examples to illustrate how important it is to be transparent about share ownership. Photo: Julia Thommessen / news On Thursday, the company Futureexchange and the Brønnøysund register gathered the media at Mesh in Oslo for a presentation about its new shareholder register. The players are now launching a pilot scheme which will register all share transactions in unlisted companies in Norway. Currently, the service is based on consent. Share ownership not a priority Jensen believes the time is overdue for public registers of share ownership in both listed and unlisted companies – even though she did nothing about it as finance minister. – It is always a question of priorities. Who wins the match? There were many urgent things that had to be taken care of. – Why wasn’t this a priority? – I think that here there are several governments and several parliaments that have not delivered the goods. Definitely also the one I sat in. But then it’s kind of gratifying to now be able to stand on the other side of the table and help the authorities to respond to a request decision that many have been asking for a solution for a very long time, replies Jensen. Jensen is referring to a decision from the Storting already in 2014, which asked the government Jensen was in to put in place a shareholder register. It was never done. The solution that Futureexchange and the Brønnøysund registers present on Tuesday depends on consent due to the current legislation. But Jensen believes the time is overdue for a piece of legislation that requires all companies to deliver digital shareholder books that can be updated in real time, as well as transparency around these transactions. – This is not really politically controversial. Everyone is in favor of putting a solution in place. Then I think: unite yourselves, make the decisions, get the regulations in place, solve the problem. Message to the politicians: – Solve the problem Throughout the summer and autumn there has been a storm surrounding politicians and their spouses’ share dealings. In particular, Erna Solberg’s husband Sindre Finne’s over 3,000 share trades while she was prime minister has been the subject of investigations both in the press, Økokrim and the Storting. – You didn’t have shares yourself, but there were media stories about Solberg’s husband when you were in government. Was it an internal theme? – The topic was each minister’s responsibility to keep order in their own home. I didn’t find it to be a big problem. You see in retrospect that it obviously was. – But for me personally, it has been an easier journey. I’m alone and don’t have a spouse or partner to look after or sort out. I’ve had my own path to keep clean, and the easiest way to do that was not to own a single stock. Brønnøysund director: – The regulations are not good enough The Brønnøysund registers are a public agency under the Department of Business. Departmental director for business development David Norheim in the Brønnøysund registers believes it is a “no-brainer” to require companies to register share transactions digitally, so that company events can be recorded when they happen. Whether this should be publicly available or not, Norheim lets the politicians decide. – We make arrangements for it to be opened completely or regulated. – Are the current regulations good enough? – No, it isn’t. It is clear that while a good number of other processes have received a digitization-friendly regulatory framework, there are major shortcomings when it comes to access to shareholder information. It is primarily that there is a lack of requirements that it be entered in digital tools, and that it be reported on an ongoing basis, says Norheim to news. He says it has been engaging to follow the debate that has raged about the politicians’ competence. – We have been working on this since 2014, and seeing that the interest is so great and what we have been saying for a long time, including that you can very easily hide ownership by selling out in the New Year – I told the State Secretary that myself in the Ministry of Local Government the day before the Finnes case was blown, he says and adds: – There is something about the fact that we are not screwed together to have a real-time picture. We have to do something about that. Open to a new career path Jensen states that she owns around 2/3 per cent of Futureexchange, which has collaborated with the Brønnøysund registers on the solution. Jensen inherited tens of millions last year. She is a trained economist and is open to a career as an investor. – You are here as an investor. Have you started an investor career? – It remains to be seen. – Is this the only company you are involved in? – Yes, it is. But it is not certain that it will be the only one, but it is not what I primarily intend to do in the future.
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I did not deliver as finance minister – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
