– I am going to ask Sindre to make an overview of his share trading during the time I was prime minister, and that he make it public when it is ready, says the leader of the Conservative Party in an e-mail to news. After this summer’s integrity scandals, the spotlight has also been put on Finnes’ buying and selling of shares while Solberg was prime minister. – That Sindre has owned shares has been known for years, and politicians’ spouses also have the opportunity to do so. What I have been concerned with is that I must know enough about which companies Sindre owns shares in, to be able to assess my competence or ask for further information in cases of doubt, emphasizes Solberg. Large companies That Finne owned shares was already known in 2013. But far more details about his purchase and sale of shares in several large listed companies became known in the autumn. Among the around 20 companies Finnes owned or traded shares in were the salmon giant Mowi and the arms and technology company Kongsberg Gruppen, the financial website E24 could reveal. On Wednesday, the financial website wrote that Finnes traded shares at least 22 times in Solberg’s last four months as prime minister. E24 asked for the full list of share transactions, but did not receive it. But now Solberg wants to ask her husband to make such a list. – As I have also previously replied to news, in 2013 I asked Sindre to have a meeting and further dialogue with the civil service at the Prime Minister’s office about these issues. He had, says Solberg, and continues: – So Sindre has said both to me and to you in the press that he has, to the best of his ability, tried to follow the advice he was given. During my eight years as prime minister, I considered myself incompetent in several different cases, but not as a result of my husband’s shares, says Solberg further. Demanded transparency Today it became known that Venstre and Frp in the control committee now demand full transparency about Finnes’ share dealings while Erna Solberg was prime minister in the years 2013–2021, when his wife was prime minister. Prosecutor for the competency cases that are dealt with in the Storting’s control committee, Grunde Almeland (V), tells Dagens Næringsliv that he believes it would be wise to be open about this. The public’s knowledge of Finnes’ share transactions stems today from the shareholder register and some large deals he made in 2021. – I think it would be wise to be open about this, says Venstre’s Grunde Almeland, who is the spokesperson for the case in the Storting’s control and constitutional committee. FRP deputy leader Hans Andreas Limi tells DN that Finnes’ dealings will be able to be clarified in a control hearing. – The transparency that is necessary here, the committee can call for and get in the control hearing. Sindre Finnes bought and sold several shares during Solberg’s reign. He has previously told E24 that, after an agreement with Solberg, he had a discussion with the Prime Minister’s office about the share trading and provided information about which shares he had. Rejected insider information Erna Solberg allowed herself to be interviewed about Finnes’ purchase and sale of shares during an election visit to Trøndelag about a week ago. Then Solberg firmly emphasized that she has not at any time shared inside information with her husband. – I have never shared inside information with Sindre. Nor has he acted on any inside information about this. Relatively few purchases were made in this period, says Solberg to news. She further pointed out that Finnes significantly limited her activity in the stock market when she became prime minister. – How often did you step out of government affairs as a result of incapacity triggered by your husband’s shares? – No one. There were none of the cases that, in our opinion, were such a situation, said Solberg, and emphasizes: – I have attended all relevant meetings as prime minister.
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Solberg asks her husband to make a stock overview – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
