There has been a storm around Høyre leader Erna Solberg in the last week. On Friday, it became known that Solberg’s husband Sindre Finnes made more than 3,600 share trades while she was prime minister. He is said to have traded far more shares than he told his wife and the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK). For that reason, Solberg was incompetent in several cases during his time as prime minister. On Tuesday evening, the Conservative Party will present a timeline of what Solberg knew at different times about the share case. This is Høre’s timeline Wednesday 30 August: Høre receives at 19.54 an inquiry from E24 with several questions about Sindre Finnes’ purchase and sale of shares while Erna Solberg was prime minister. The questions will be answered the following day, Thursday 31 August. The answer was based on what Sindre Finnes has previously told Erna Solberg and the Prime Minister’s office that Finnes limited her activity in the stock market and followed the requirements for diligence during the years she was Prime Minister so that Solberg had sufficient information about his shares to assess her own integrity. Thursday 31 August: At 20.52 E24 publishes the case “Sindre Finnes bought and sold shares when Erna Solberg was prime minister”. Friday 1 September: The Conservative Party receives at 10.31 an inquiry from E24 with follow-up questions about Sindre Finnes’ purchase and sale of shares while Erna Solberg was prime minister. The questions concern whether Solberg was aware of every time Finnes bought/sold shares in the various companies while she was prime minister, whether she reported Finnes’ transactions to the Prime Minister’s office, and whether E24 could gain access to integrity assessments that deal with Finnes’ share ownership. The questions are answered the same day, but there is nothing in the questions that gives Solberg any reason to suspect that Finnes has not been telling the truth. Monday 4 September: The Conservative Party receives at 10.07 an inquiry from E24 with follow-up questions about Sindre Finnes’ purchase and sale of shares while Erna Solberg was prime minister. The question concerns whether Solberg was aware of every time Finnes bought/sold shares in the various companies while she was prime minister. As Solberg was travelling, the question will be answered on Wednesday 6 September. Solberg replies that at all times she had sufficient information about which companies and industries Sindre Finnes had shares in to be able to assess her own integrity or ask for further information if it were necessary to assess her integrity. There is nothing in the questions that gives Solberg reason to suspect that Finnes has not been telling the truth. Wednesday 6 September: The Conservative Party receives at 10.40 another inquiry from E24 with questions about Sindre Finnes’ purchase and sale of shares while Erna Solberg was prime minister. In the inquiry, E24 presents a list of 22 short-term deals that have been made during the last four months Erna Solberg was prime minister. Erna Solberg will be presented with the inquiry in the afternoon. Because she is busy, it is agreed that Høyre’s press manager contacts Sindre Finnes on her behalf. Finnes states that it was only during these four months in 2021 that he had resumed short-term trading, and that similar short-term share trading has not occurred earlier in her term as prime minister. He also says that the reason for the investments in this period was a liquidation of a fund in which he had placed money. Solberg accepts the explanation and considers that the companies on the list from E24 have not meant that she has been disqualified. The inquiry is therefore answered in line with this. E24 published the same evening, right before the party leader debate on TV 2, a case that Sindre Finnes had made 22 concrete deals in the last four months Erna Solberg was prime minister. Thursday 7 September: On Thursday morning, Finnes repeats to Solberg that it was only in the four months of 2021 that he had engaged in short-term trading, and that similar short-term stock trading has not occurred earlier in her term as prime minister. He also says that the reason for the investments in this period was a liquidation of a fund in which he had placed money. As the 22 deals that E24 mentioned were new information for Erna Solberg, she gradually gets a bad feeling throughout Thursday. However, she does not take any action on Thursday 7 September, as she chooses to believe that the assurance she received from Finnes the day before is true – and which he repeated to her on Thursday morning. In the evening, Solberg gets a question from E24 about when Sindre Finnes resumed short-term share trading. They are also asking for the first time for a complete list of Sindre Finnes’ share dealings during the period Erna Solberg was prime minister. Friday 8 September: On Friday morning, Erna Solberg’s bad feeling about Finnes’ explanations increases. From Stavanger she calls Sindre Finnes approx. at 12.15. In the conversation with Finnes, Solberg points out that the 22 deals mentioned by E24 were completely new information to her, and that she is unsure whether she can trust the explanations Finnes has given so far. Finnes confirms that he has traded more than the 22 trades that have so far become known, but Solberg does not get the impression that there are many more trades involved and that these will make her competence assessments as prime minister incorrect. In the telephone conversation, she asks Finnes to make an overview of all transactions he has made on the stock market during her time as prime minister. This is also communicated to E24. Finnes confirms that he will make such an overview and that he will start gathering information immediately. He points out that it may take some time, as there is information to be collected about conditions dating back up to ten years. Erna Solberg is interviewed by news approx. at 3.30 p.m. She is asked about the extent of Sindre Finne’s stock trading. She replies that the scope is greater than what she has been aware of, and that she has therefore asked for a full overview. Erna Solberg calls Finnes at 18.03 to make sure that he is at work. She emphasizes to him that the overview must be complete and correct. Finnes asks in the telephone conversation whether it would be possible to create an overview of trades above a certain value. Solberg rejects this, and believes that a comprehensive, complete and correct list must be made. In the evening of 8 September, Sindre Finnes’ share trading is the main story on news Dagsrevyen. Erna Solberg says in the broadcast that the new information shows that the extent of Finne’s share dealings while she was prime minister is greater than what she has been aware of. She adds, however, that none of the new deals that have become known at this time have resulted in disqualification. Sunday 10 September: Sunday evening is the first time that Finnes and Solberg are physically in the same place after the confrontation on Friday. Solberg asks Finnes how the overview is going, and if he has anything new to share. Finnes replies that the work is well under way, but he says that he has nothing more to share, and that he is now getting help from his friend John Christian Elden to ensure that the overview is correct. Monday 11 September (election day): The Conservative Party receives at 15.24 on election day an inquiry from E24 that Sindre Finnes made 72 transactions in the company Nekkar from the middle of May 2020 to the end of September 2021. They ask whether an assessment of Solberg’s competence has been made in relation to Nekkar. Høyre’s press manager replied to E24 that Nekkar was among the companies Erna was initially aware of, as a result of her sister being a board member there. Thus, she had to assess her competence if a case related directly to this company came up. The case was published the next day. Tuesday 12 September: Erna Solberg is interviewed by TV 2, E24 and several other media in the afternoon, where she points out that the work on the overview is ongoing, but that she will wait until she has seen the overall overview from Finnes before she comments on the matter further . Sindre Finnes tells Solberg on Tuesday evening that he has collected most of the relevant information, but that he has not been able to create a comprehensive overview. She gets to see parts of this documentation on Tuesday evening, and takes the initiative for a meeting on Wednesday 13 September in the morning where Finnes must present all the documents to Solberg and her colleagues so that a comprehensive overview can be made. Parts of the documentation are sent by e-mail to Solberg’s closest employees late this evening. Wednesday 13 September: On Wednesday 13 September in the morning, Sindre meets Finnes at Høyres Hus with a number of documents in various formats (digital and physical) and from various sources. Erna Solberg, Sindre Finnes, Lars Øy, Cato Husabø Fossen and Jenny Clemet von Tetzschner take part in the meeting. Finnes says that the transaction list on his VPS account only goes back to 2019, and that all information from before this has been extracted manually from the bank and settlement papers. Erna Solberg asks her colleagues to help Sindre Finnes create a comprehensive overview so that it is possible to form an overall picture. Lars Øy begins this work. On Wednesday afternoon, Høyre’s general secretary Tom Erlend Skaug is contacted by Jenny Clemet von Tetzschner and Cato Husabø Fossen. They warn him of the matter that will come. The control committee’s chairman, Peter Frølich, is notified by Solberg. The work on the overview takes all day, and the overview was ready late in the evening. For the first time, it becomes clear that Sindre Finnes’ activity amounts to over 3,600 trades. Thursday 14 September: On Thursday 14 September, Erna Solberg briefs the working committee in the Conservative Party on the matter, and she announces that she will call a press conference on Friday 15 September in the morning. During 14 September, Erna Solberg makes an overall review of the transactions, and states that it is too large to review all decisions that the government has made with a view to clarifying her competence. Friday 15 September: At 0830: Erna Solberg calls a press conference at 0930. At 0930: The press conference is held, the overview of Sindre Finnes’ share transactions is sent to the press at the same time. The file that has been shared with the press is the only comprehensive overview that the Right has. The documents that Sindre Finnes handed over in connection with the preparation of the overview on 13 September have been returned as they contain significant amounts of personal information. Finnes must decide for himself whether these individual documents are to be shared with the press. 1230: Erna Solberg briefs the Conservative Party’s central board on the case
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This is the Høyre’s timeline in the share purchase case – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
