The executive board of Norges Bank Investment Management has placed the company Fincantieri SpA under observation for a period of two years.

The decision was made due to the “unacceptable risk that the company contributes to serious or systematic human rights violations” in reference to the conduct-based criterion in the Guidelines for Observation and Exclusion from the Government Pension Fund Global.

The decision is based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics of 5 November 2024.

At the same time, it was announced that the board has decided to end the observation of the company ORLEN SA, which has been under observation since February 2023. This was also in relation to human rights violations in relation to its acquisition of the newspaper publisher Polska press.

According to the Council on Ethics, the company has since implemented several changes indicating that there is no longer an unacceptable risk of the company contributing to restricting press and freedom of expression.

The decision is based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics of 2 December 2024.

“The board has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the above recommendations but is satisfied that criteria for observation and end of observation have been fulfilled,” NBIM stated.

“Before deciding to place a company under observation, Norges Bank shall consider whether the use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited. The executive board concludes that it is not appropriate to use other measures in the case above.”

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