Norway

NORWAY - The NOK1183bn Petroleum Fund would merge with the National Insurance Scheme fund to create the ‘government pension fund' under a proposal touted by the Ministry of Finance.

NORWAY - Norwegian businesses must be given the opportunity to postpone registration with mandatory occupational pension schemes due to the burden of administration costs, says The Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH).

NORWAY - The return on the NOK1183bn Petroleum Fund will not be enough to cover future spending on old age and disability pensions, according to governor Svein Gjedrem (pictured) of Norges Bank.

NORWAY/UK - Kvaerner, the Norwegian conglomerate, has shot down allegations that it is trying to skirt its UK pension obligations on the back of the management buy-out of its British subsidiary earlier this year.

NORWAY - The NOK1183bn Petroleum Fund hired three new managers during the second quarter and awarded a total of five new mandates across equities and fixed income.

NORWAY - The OECD has said that Norway should consider rules allowing portability of occupational pensions between the private and the public sectors.

NORWAY - The pension reform in Norway could be considered less urgent and political pressure to limit the reform may increase if the high oil price persists over time, experts say.

NORWAY - Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has announced it is developing capacity and expertise to safeguard the ownership role of the Government Petroleum Fund and the Bank's foreign exchange reserves.

NORWAY - Growing pension costs are the "major threat" to long-term fiscal sustainability in Norway, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

NORWAY - The NOK 1091bn (e134.4bn) government petroleum fund has pulled NOK 337m (e42.8m) from US chemicals firm Kerr-McGee Corporation after an ethical probe by the fund's advisory council.