Shareholder Spotlight : The Dirty Oil Money Machine - Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Hypocritical Heart of Norges Bank

Listen up, because this isn’t some polished corporate fluff piece served on a silver platter. This is the unfiltered truth about Norges Bank and its investment arm, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) – the behemoth guardians of Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, that trillion-dollar piggy bank built on North Sea oil gushing like blood from the earth’s veins. We’re talking about a fund that’s supposed to be the ethical poster child of global finance, yet it’s knee-deep in scandals that would make a street hustler blush. I’ve dug through the muck, the backroom deals, the half-hearted apologies, and what emerges is a picture of hypocrisy so thick you could cut it with a rusty knife. Norway prides itself on being the clean, green Nordic utopia, preaching human rights and sustainability from its fjord-side pulpits, but when it comes to their cash cow? Fuck that – it’s all about the returns, ethics be damned until the shit hits the fan and they’re forced to divest like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

This exposé isn’t for the faint-hearted. From leadership cock-ups that reek of cronyism to investments in war profiteers and child labour exploiters, NBIM and Norges Bank have a rap sheet longer than a winter night in Oslo. And just to twist the knife, let’s briefly confirm their stake in Cummins Inc. (CMI) – yeah, that diesel engine giant fined billions for emissions cheating, installing defeat devices on hundreds of thousands of trucks to spew out more pollution than a Victorian factory. As of June 2025, NBIM holds about 1.54 million shares in Cummins (CMI), worth over $500 million, sitting pretty at around 1% ownership. This is yet another company in the Cummins ecosystem peddling alternative ideas on ethical behaviour – think Dieselgate 2.0, where they prioritised profits over the planet, choking the air while NBIM cashes the cheques. It’s not an outlier; it’s the norm in this fund’s portfolio of moral compromises.

Leadership: The Rotten Core at the Top

Start at the head, because that’s where the fish stinks first. Norges Bank’s leadership scandals read like a bad soap opera scripted by greedy amateurs. Take the 2020 hiring fiasco of Nicolai Tangen as NBIM’s CEO. This guy, a hedge fund tycoon, threw a lavish bash in the US – private jets, rock concerts, the works – and who shows up? The outgoing CEO, Yngve Slyngstad, right as Tangen’s getting the job. Conflict of interest? You bet your arse it was. Parliament grilled them, expenses scandals erupted, and the whole thing exposed NBIM’s governance as a cosy club where transparency goes to die. Tangen kept the gig, but the damage was done – trust eroded, and the fund’s ethical facade cracked wide open.

Then there’s Jens Stoltenberg’s 2022 appointment as Norges Bank Governor. Fresh from NATO, this former PM waltzes in amid cries of political nepotism. It was dubbed the “first scandal” of the new government, with opponents howling about favouritism and potential conflicts in overseeing the fund’s trillions. Add in a 2023 court battle where NBIM beat a senior exec claiming unfair treatment, but the judge slammed their management style as sloppy and unprofessional. And don’t forget the 2015 broadside from Swedish investors, blasting NBIM’s lack of accountability – calling out the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund for hiding behind secrecy like a coward in the shadows.

These aren’t isolated fuck-ups; they’re symptomatic of an institution where power breeds arrogance, and oversight is as effective as a chocolate teapot.

Ethical Investments: The Hypocrisy Hotline

NBIM loves to tout its ethical guidelines – exclusions for weapons, tobacco, human rights abusers – but dig deeper, and it’s a masterclass in delayed reactions and selective blindness. Take their Israeli investments: over 220 billion NOK poured into companies propping up illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. Only in 2025, amid the Gaza bloodbath, did they finally divest from 11 firms and ditch Israeli asset managers. But why the hell did it take so long? Critics screamed “double standards” – quick to sanction Russia over Ukraine, but dragging feet on Israel until protests shamed them into action. It became an election flashpoint in Norway, with activists painting Norges Bank as complicit in war crimes.

Then there’s the 2021 “Barnegate” child labour bombshell. NBIM invested in outfits exploiting kids, despite knowing about it through their own ethics council. The government, ministry, and fund all turned a blind eye until exposed – Norway’s “biggest scandal,” some called it, a betrayal of the nation’s vaunted moral compass.

Grenfell Tower? Yeah, NBIM had skin in that game too, backing Arconic, the cladding supplier linked to the 2017 inferno that killed 72. UK officials threatened “severe consequences” for not stepping up, and while NBIM met victims, the criticism lingers like smoke in the air.

And corruption? They’ve excluded PEMEX in 2025 for graft risks, put TD Bank on watch after money-laundering fiascos, and observed Fincantieri for labour abuses. Petrobras in 2016, PetroChina in 2023 – the list goes on. But these are reactive slaps on the wrist, not proactive heroism. Even their defence investment ban gets slammed as “illogical” in a world on fire, with calls to arm up ethically. Gazprom in 2014? Investing amid Putin’s pipeline games, ethics conveniently forgotten.

It’s outrageous – a fund born from oil wealth, preaching green while funding the filth.

Regulatory Failures: The Watchdog That Barks But Doesn’t Bite

Norges Bank, as Norway’s central bank, is supposed to police the financial streets, but it’s more lapdog than guard dog. The 2018 Nordea probe tied to the Magnitsky scandal? Russian laundered cash flowing through Nordic banks under their nose. Økokrim investigated, but where was the prevention? DNB’s 2020 AML fine of $45.5 million exposed supervisory lapses, and Danske Bank’s 2025 market manipulation penalty? Just another day at the office.

Even state-owned Norsk Tipping, the gambling monopoly, racks up scandals – tech glitches, fake wins, fines – with no real accountability. And back in 2013, fears of a Norwegian LIBOR-style rate rigging scandal had the bank sweating, admitting vulnerabilities in a system ripe for abuse.

This isn’t oversight; it’s negligence wrapped in bureaucracy, leaving the public to foot the bill when it all goes tits up.

Financial Fiascos and ESG Facades

The 2008 subprime crash hammered NBIM with massive losses from dodgy assets – a wake-up call they apparently slept through. ESG? They defy US backlash on climate votes, but critics say it’s half-arsed, ignoring CEO pay excesses or AI risks.

Volkswagen’s Dieselgate? NBIM sued over emissions lies, joining the fray but only after the damage. Credit Suisse’s 2021-2022 meltdowns with Greensill and Archegos? They voted against the board, but again, reactive outrage.

Bitcoin holdings up 83% in 2025 via MicroStrategy? Risky as hell, volatility be damned. And their 1.5% global ownership stake? It screams influence without responsibility, prioritising returns over real change.

The Cummins Connection: Just Another Ethical Sideshow

Slipping back to Cummins – this engine maker’s $1.675 billion US fine in 2023 for defeat devices on 960,000 trucks wasn’t a blip; it was deliberate deception, pumping out NOx like it was going out of fashion. NBIM’s hefty stake? It’s emblematic – investing in polluters while virtue-signalling on sustainability. Cummins embodies that “alternative ethical behaviour,” where corners are cut for cash, and NBIM enables it, adding to their portfolio of moral compromises.

In the end, Norges Bank and NBIM aren’t villains in capes; they’re the system itself – a gritty grind of oil money chasing yields, ethics as an afterthought. Norway’s fund could lead the world in true reform, but instead, it’s mired in scandals that expose the rot. Time to wake up, clean house, and stop the hypocrisy before the whole thing implodes. Because if this is ethical investing, then I’m a fucking saint.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Shareholder Spotlight : The Dirty Oil Money Machine – Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Hypocritical Heart of Norges Bank

Leadership: The Rotten Core at the Top

Ethical Investments: The Hypocrisy Hotline

Regulatory Failures: The Watchdog That Barks But Doesn’t Bite

Financial Fiascos and ESG Facades

The Cummins Connection: Just Another Ethical Sideshow

Sources

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