We assist Norwegian and foreign financial undertakings, companies and private individuals in matters relating to financing, financial agreements and financial institutions legislation.
We are an independent law firm with no permanent ties to large Norwegian financial undertakings, and we can normally act on behalf of Norwegian and foreign clients towards such institutions. In any event, we are careful to comply with the Code of Ethics regarding client and assignment disputes.
Financing as a business area comprises various legal areas, of which contract law, corporate law, securities law, the law of mortgages and liens and guarantee law may be of crucial importance. We have working experience from in-house positions as attorney and general counsel of a large Norwegian commercial bank, as well as from board of directors and supervisory committees of banks, leasing and credit card providers.
Our practice includes advising on
- Loan agreements
- Acquisition financing
- Project financing
- Bond financing
- Securitization
- Leasing
- Guarantees
- Security documentation
- Restructuring and bankruptcy
We also advise on regulatory matters in connection with the above, as well as on matters relating to the relationship between financial enterprises and customers, covered by Norwegian legislation.
Finance legislation
In Norway the main legislation is the Act of 10 April 2015 no. 17 on Financial Enterprises, which entered into force on January 1, 2015. This act is the core legal source for regulating financial enterprises and financial activity in Norway. The act governs, inter alia, restrictions and authorization requirements regarding the right to carry on financing activity, which may only be carried out by “financial enterprises” (Finansforetak). The term “financial enterprises” replaces the term “financial institutions” and the definition of the term includes banks, credit institutions, financial enterprises, insurance companies, pension companies, holding companies in financial groups and undertakings that have been granted permission to operate activities as payment enterprises or e-money firms.
The Act includes amongst other things new capital requirements, an expansion of regulations on cooperation agreements outside of group relations, regulation of financial institutions’ use of names, rules on holding companies as parent company in financial conglomerates, exchange of customer information between group companies, removal of requirements for boards of representatives and control committees, repeal of rules on securitization, clarification on the banks’ obligations to handle cash, as well as more extensive rules on outsourcing and customer services.
The other main legislation is the the new Financial Contracts Act 18 December 2020 no. 146, which entered into force on 1 January 2023. The act may not be deviated from to the detriment of consumers and some provisions are mandatory also in relation to customers not being consumers. However, it is customary to deviate to the greatest possible extent from the act in agreements with business customers, resulting in inter alia business loan agreements being mainly subject to contract between the lender and the borrower.
The Financial Contracts Act contains provisions relating to payments, deposits, general principles in financial services, account holding, payment services, loan contracts and guarantees.
The content of this overview is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
