Norges Bank has announced plans to exclude six companies from the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), following recommendations from the GPFG's Council on Ethics.

The executive board said that while it has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the recommendations, it is satisfied that the exclusion criteria have been fulfilled.

The board also confirmed that whilst it had considered whether the use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited, it was not appropriate to use other measures in these cases.

In particular, the Norges Bank Executive Board decided to exclude China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd after it found an "unacceptable risk" that the company is contributing to or is itself responsible for gross corruption.

In addition to this, it excluded Tianjin Pharmaceuticals Da Re Tang Group Corp Ltd over what it deemed to be an “unacceptable risk” that the company is contributing to severe environmental damage.

The board excluded Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and General Dynamics Corp. due to the companies’ production of key components to nuclear weapons, which is against the product-based criterion outlined in the guidelines for observation and exclusion from the GPFG.

It also decided to exclude Prosegur Compania de Seguridad SA due to an “unacceptable risk” that the company is contributing to serious and systematic human rights violations.

All of these decisions were based on recommendations from the Council on Ethics in April 2024.

Alongside this, the board decided to exclude Turning Point Brands Inc due to its production of tobacco or tobacco products, as recommended by the Council on Ethics in March 2024.

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