Paul Sveinsson, Attorney-at-law

Following assignments as counsel to the Parliamentary Ombud for Scrutiny of the Public Administration and as Deputy Judge, Paul Sveinsson became an associate at the law firm Bech, Selte, Honne & Bjønness (now the lawfirm Wiersholm Mellbye & Bech) working with real estate and construction law, before he joined the commercial bank Den norske Creditbank (DnC, now DNB) at the beginning of the Norwegian banking crisis 1987-1994.

At DnC his responsibilities comprised work-outs and enforcements of defaulted loans and credits in all parts of Norway, as well as at the bank’s offices abroad, the bank’s funding, securities, financial fraud against the bank, general banking and corporate tasks, and finally responsibility for the legal implementation of the merger with Bergen Bank to Den norske Bank (DnB) in 1990.

After a position at the lawfirm Bugge, Arentz-Hansen og Rasmussen (BAHR), where Sveinsson most of the time worked on the judicial inquiry into Norion Bank under administration, Sveinsson returned to DNB as senior counsel and later legal director and general counsel of DNB, with the responsibility for some 50 lawyers. In addition to the leadership responsibilities his work comprised all parts of the bank’s legal matters in Norway and abroad, including difficult credit matters.

I 1998 Sveinsson left the bank and continued his practice at the lawfirm Gundersen & Co. DA, a boutique litigation firm, and then at the lawfirm Arntzen, Underland & Co. ANS, which through a merger in 2001 became Arntzen de Besche Advokatfirma AS. There he worked within the same areas which his new lawfirm Advokatfirmaet Sveinsson will cover, including finance regulatory matters, corporate finance, leveraged buy outs, bond transactions and other loan financings, aviation including aircraft financing, insolvency and reconstruction (recently he represented some twenty leasing companies and other creditors in the reconstruction of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA in 2020-21), as well as general commercial contract and corporate law issues.

Sveinsson has for many years, whilst at Arntzen, been a recommended lawyer by several legal guides including Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR.

In 2022 Sveinsson established his own firm Advokatfirmaet Sveinsson.