Regulations for the Norwegian State Finance Fund

The Ministry of Finance has today laid down regulations for the State Finance Fund. - I am pleased with the fact that the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) now has approved the State Finance Fund as an allowed state aid measure, says Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen.

The State Finance Fund is an important part of the measures the Government has taken in order to ease the access to loans for companies and households, and contribute to the stabilisation of the financial market.

The Members of the Board of the State Finance Fund were appointed 6 March. A small internal administration is established, and the Fund is in the process of hiring legal and financial advisors.

The regulations laid down today contain provisions determining the requirements for the banks which will seek capital contributions from the Fund, provisions determining how much capital the Fund may contribute to individual banks, and provisions determining how the agreements between the Fund and the banks seeking capital contributions may be structured.

The State Finance Fund is a state aid measure, which must be approved by ESA before it can be put into effect. The Ministry of Finance has had a thorough and constructive dialogue with ESA leading up to today’s decision by ESA to approve the scheme.

The scheme will, in line with ESAs state aid guidelines, be open for a 6 month period starting from the entry into force of the Regulations 15 May 2009. The final time limit for the submission of applications for capital contributions is 30 September 2009. Whether it will be necessary to prolong the scheme will be evaluated during the coming fall. A prolongation will require an approval from ESA.