Norway Oil Fund Clear to Invest in General Dynamics, Rio Tinto, Walmart and Others
June 25 2019 - 5:08AM
Dow Jones News
By Dominic Chopping
Norway's trillion-dollar oil fund has been given the green light
to invest in a group of companies that had previously been excluded
on ethical grounds.
Norges Bank, the country's central bank that manages the fund,
said Tuesday that it has decided to revoke the exclusions after
recommendations from the fund's ethics council.
The decision means the sovereign wealth fund can invest in Grupo
Carso SAB de CV (GCARSO.MX), General Dynamics Corp. (GD), Nutrien
Ltd. (NTR), Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU), Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), Walmart
Inc. (WMT) and Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV (WALMEX.MX).
Grupo Carso was excluded from the fund in 2011 due to tobacco
production, but the company has made it clear for the ethics
council that it is no longer involved in tobacco production, Norges
Bank said.
General Dynamics Corp. was excluded in 2005 due to the
production of cluster munitions but the company has made it clear
that such production has been terminated.
Nutrien (previously known as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan) was
excluded in 2011 after an assessment of the risk of violations of
fundamental ethical norms related to the company's operations in
Western Sahara. The ethics council found that these purchases now
have ceased.
Rio Tinto Ltd. and Rio Tinto PLC were excluded in 2008 based on
an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage related to
the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. The company has signed an agreement
to sell its interest in the mine.
Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart de Mexico were excluded in 2006 based
on an assessment of serious or systematic violations of human
rights. Norges Bank said the ethics council has found that the
grounds for exclusion are no longer present.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com;
@domchopping @WSJNordics
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2019 04:53 ET (08:53 GMT)
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