DnB – Storebrand merger cancelled (dn.no)

The merger between Den norske Bank (DnB) and the Storebrand insurance company has been cancelled. DnB has refused to drop its demand for changes in the conversion ratio, and has also refused to present its findings to a neutral third party. This has produced a poor climate at every level, and now plans for a new, major Norwegian financial giant have been abandoned. The breakdown came just before midnight on Sunday. "We are very sorry that it was not possible to implement this merger," said Storebrand board chairman Leif Nergaard. According to Mr. Nergaard the gap between the two parties was quite large when negotiations broke down late on Saturday night. He said that the due diligence process revealed findings in both DnB and Storebrand. The integration agreement specifies that findings of this sort are to be assessed by an independent third party, Deloitte & Touche. But the process never reached that point, because DnB refused to present its findings to the neutral third party. Sunday night Mr. Neergaard also confirmed that recent developments in the process have undermined trust between the two organizations. After the two parties broke off negotiations, Storebrand’s board chairman said that the company’s financial position is entirely acceptable.

Stoltenberg to cooperate with Christian Democrats (Dagsavisen)

Jens Stoltenberg and the Labour Party plan to cooperate with the Christian Democrats, and Labour wants to make the consequences of Progress Party policies apparent to everyone. The upcoming party chairman believes that this will encourage voters to return to Labour. In Mr. Stoltenberg’s view, voters will renew their allegiance to Labour if the party is able to publicize its message that it stands for responsible and solid social-democratic policies, unlike Progress, whose promises to pour more money into various areas will eventually destroy the welfare state. The fact that Labour has cooperated with Progress on several issues this spring does not alter Mr. Stoltenberg’s belief that the policies advocated by the Progress Party are leading the country in the wrong direction. "We have very little in common with the Progress Party. But it would be odd if Labour took a stance against government support for pre-school day care centres just because Progress suddenly promoted it," said Mr. Stoltenberg.

Norwegian scandals are expected (Dagbladet, Sunday edition)

We should try to prepare ourselves for the billion-kroner Norwegian accounting firm scandals that are sure to arise one after another, in the view of Stein Regård, chief economist at the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. Mr. Regård, a highly experienced economist, is afraid that an American state of affairs will be repeated in Norway. His reasoning is simple: because Norwegian senior executives have bonus packages that are actuated when the value of their companies’ stocks climbs, they will do anything within their power to convince the market that their companies are doing well. Mr. Regård believes that one method they use to accomplish this is fudging the accounts. The Confederation is now criticizing the Government harshly. "The Government is uncritically supporting the insane focus being placed on stock exchange share prices."

Stronger links with OPEC (Dagens Næringsliv, Saturday edition)

In a statement on petroleum policy yesterday afternoon, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Einar Steensnæs (Chr. Dem.) said that increased regulation of Norwegian petroleum production will be an active part of his policy. Norway’s links with OPEC will be strengthened. Although Norway has reduced its oil production three times in the past in order to help stabilize oil prices, this has not been an official part of Norwegian petroleum policy. Yesterday this was specifically incorporated into the Government’s petroleum policy. "We are doing this in light of the situation that arose last winter when we introduced production regulation measures. It is important to emphasize that this does not imply that we are establishing formal cooperation with OPEC, and that we reserve the right to take our own independent decisions," said Mr. Steensnæs.

Jan Petersen wooed by Carl I. Hagen, but resists (Aftenposten, Saturday edition)

Jan Petersen (Cons.) rules out any possibility of government cooperation with the Progress Party during the current four-year Storting term. Both the Christian Democrats and the Liberals have categorically refused to work together with Carl I. Hagen’s party in the Bondevik Government. So it comes as no surprise that the Conservative chairman will not considers it, either. But what if the Government were to fall? Would it then be possible to form a new government that included the Progress Party? Mr. Petersen answered that it would be "pointless" for the Conservatives to try to form a government with Progress during this Storting term.

Record processing rate at Immigration Directorate and Appeals Board (Verdens Gang)

Both the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) are processing applications like never before. In the past half year the UNE has halved the number of cases waiting to be processed. The UDI has also set new records in the number of cases it has processed. Last year the waiting period for family reunification was up to 12 months, but this year applications are being processed in one to six months. Now all kinds of residence applications are being dealt with in the course of one to two months. Today the latest figures for asylum applications will be released.

New trains costing NSB billions (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian State Railways (NSB) has spent NOK 5.3 billion on trains that are either useless, are delivered several years too late, or have so many faults that they are consigned to the workshop for long periods of time. NSB is now withholding payment from suppliers of newly purchased high-speed diesel trains, because over half the trains that have been delivered are now in the workshop. An EU proposal for regulations governing railways may make future purchases easier for NSB.

Worth noting

• Elisabeth Hunter, Carl I. Hagen’s stepdaughter, has been selected as the Progress Party’s new board member at Norges Bank. This should be illegal, according to conflict-of-interest experts. Law professor Eivind Smith does not regard it as illegal that the Progress parliamentary group appointed Mr. Hagen’s stepdaughter to a position on the board of Norges Bank. Unlike in other areas of the public administration, the conflict of interest rules do not apply here. "Norwegian parliamentarians are actually in a unique position. An elected representative can, in principle, be instrumental in granting a million kroner to his own wife. But this does not mean that it is a wise thing to do," said Professor Smith. (Aftenposten, Saturday edition)
• The Government believes that there is enough gas on the Norwegian continental shelf to last for another 100 years, and that petroleum resources will last for 50 years. Yesterday Minister of Petroleum and Energy Einar Steensnæs presented his statement on petroleum, which included a plan for extracting more petroleum from all the fields. The current average payload efficiency of an oil field is approximately 44 per cent, and the Government intends to raise this to over 50 per cent. (Klassekampen, Saturday edition)
• The Supreme Court has now heard the first appeal against a judgment for preventive detention since the new measure went into effect. The Supreme Court reduced the sentence from 21 to 15 years’ preventive detention for a 41-year-old who was convicted of a gross sexual violation against his own son. (Aftenposten, Saturday edition)
• Access to the shoreline is gradually diminishing for most people. In eastern Norway almost half the shoreline has been developed. The municipalities are currently granting exemptions to seven out of ten applicants who want to develop shoreline property. The worst culprit in southern Norway is the municipality of Kragerø. Now the Government has begun buying up property in order to ensure the right of the general public to free access of these areas. (Dagsavisen, Saturday edition)
• Local wage increases in industry will be the lowest for several years. Several of the larger companies in the process industry will give no wage increases at all. The total local increases this year are well below the average of the past five years, according to figures Aftenposten has compiled from over 30 companies. (Aftenposten)
• The wage gap between women and men in the national government administration is larger than ever. Women are losing ground to men in every area. Neither education, occupation nor age serve to ensure pay equity. Statistics Norway has now presented the largest wage investigation ever undertaken among full-time employees in Norway, and the result for the government, which is supposed to be the equal payment watchdog, is discouraging. (Dagsavisen, Saturday edition)
• The people have spoken: reasonably priced public services are more important than lower taxes. This is the majority view in all political camps. According to a recent survey made by AC Nielsen for Avisenes nyhetsbyrå, 64 per cent of the respondents oppose raising individual contributions to public services such as schools, home help and pre-school day care in order to lower taxes. (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet:

Carl I. Hagen, the chairman of the Progress Party, has used his position to toss a tasty morsel into his stepdaughter’s bowl. On Friday she was appointed to the board of Norges Bank. She has never been a politician, and is an ordinary economist without a great deal of experience in her field. There is no particular reason why she should be participating in the top management of Norges Bank. It is thus reasonable to assume that she was appointed because of her close connection with Carl I. Hagen. We know perfectly well how Mr. Hagen would have reacted if the chairman of another party had done something like this. He would have called it by its proper name: nepotism. But he is an expert at adapting his political views to what suits him and his party at any given time. What is remarkable is that there is nobody in political circles who sees that it is objectionable in principle. Criticism of this appointment has been mild, although law professor Eivind Smith believes that it should have been illegal. We agree with Professor Smith.