Hjort has presented its report

After the Panama Papers case, the Board of Directors of DNB ASA decided to carry out an independent survey of all aspects of DNB’s involvement in the case. The law firm Hjort has now presented its final report, which has been considered by the Board of Directors.

The investigation team in Hjort has been headed by Kristin Veierød, attorney-at-law, and the process has taken four months. Hjort received technical assistance to copy DNB’s data servers in Norway and Luxembourg, and has reviewed a very extensive pool of documents. In addition, Hjort has interviewed more than 30 current and former DNB employees.

Complete overview
"The concern of the Board of Directors has been to gain the best possible insight into what has happened. Hjort has done a thorough job, and made independent evaluations of their findings. The review presented in the board meeting has given us a complete overview of the matter and forms a sound basis for learning,” says Anne Carine Tanum, board chairman in DNB ASA.

In its report, Hjort states that DNB Luxembourg facilitated the establishment of 42 companies in the Seychelles for customers during the period 2006 to 2008, and that all these companies are dissolved. Hjort has not uncovered any violations of the law associated with the establishment of this service offering.

Violation of two guidelines
Hjort points to the fact that the establishment of the service offering was not approved in accordance with the standard procedure for new products. In addition, they stress that the DNB Group’s code of ethics was not followed given that the business area with responsibility for DNB Luxembourg did not suspend the service offering pending an assessment of its reputational consequences.  

According to the report, knowledge about the service offering did not, at any time, reach the former or current group chief executive or the Group’s Boards of Directors until it became an issue in the media in the spring of 2016.

Hjort points out that DNB’s Group Audit had the opportunity to gain knowledge of the service offering based on the information they received during the 2008 to 2009 period.

Additional measures from the Board of Directors
"Over the past few days, the Board of Directors has considered Hjort’s report in two board meetings. In connection with the Panama Papers case, the Board of Directors approved extensive measures in May. In the opinion of the Board, the measures that are being implemented are well-suited to ensure compliance with the Group’s code of ethics and prevent the establishment of objectionable products and services in DNB,” says Tanum.

The measures include:

•  Stricter control of operations in Luxembourg
•  Enhanced customer due diligence in Private Banking
•  The introduction of an external notification channel in DNB in addition to the existing notification channel
•  The introduction of new and comprehensive guidelines for the approval of new products
•  New guidelines and measures for the management of international subsidiaries
•  An external review of competencies and priorities in Group Audit

Contact information:
Thomas Midteide, group executive vice president, Corporate Communications, tel.: (+ 47) 962 32 017
Even Westerveld, EVP Corporate Communications, tel. (+47) 400 16 744