Norway sovereign wealth fund excludes firms it says may contribute to rights' violations

COGNYTE SOFTWARE

15/12/2022 22:39

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund on
Thursday said its executive board had decided to exclude from
its portfolio two firms and a subsidiary that it said held
"unacceptable risk" of human rights' violations.
    Israeli security and analytics software provider Cognyte
Software Ltd  CGNT.O  was excluded "due to unacceptable risk
that the company contributes to serious human rights
violations," it said, while Thai national energy company PTT
 PTT.BK  and its unit PTT Oil and Retail Business  OR.BK  had
been excluded "due to unacceptable risk that the companies
contribute to serious violations of individuals' rights in
situations of war or conflict."
    The statement from Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM),
the fund's operator, did not elaborate on the reasoning other
than to say that the decisions were based on ethics council
recommendations from May and June this year. It did not mention
the fund's stake in these companies. 
    PTT and Cognyte did not respond to Reuters requests for
comment. NBIM did not respond to a request for further comment
on the suspension.
    The fund added that it will remove Italian company Leonardo
SpA  LDOF.MI  from "observation," as the reason it was placed
under the criteria was "no longer grounds for observation."
    Leonardo did not respond to a request for comment.  
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; additional reporting
by Ann Maria Shibu)
((mailto:Shubham.Kalia@thomsonreuters.com;))