The operators of Norway £915billion sovereign fund wants global companies to be transparent about tax payments.
The Scandinavian lawmakers last year ordered the fund, which invests the proceeds of Norway’s vast offshore oil and gas production, to be more involved in worldwide efforts to combat tax havens.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which runs the fund, said that taxes should be paid where economic value is generated.
They say a company’s board is responsible for its tax arrangements and that public country-by-country tax reporting is a core element of transparency.
With stakes in about 9,000 companies globally, owning on average 1.3 percent of all listed equities, the Norwegian fund is among the world’s most influential investors.
From time to time it publishes “expectations documents” in a bid to influence corporate behaviour.
“The purpose of these expectations is to express how Norges Bank Investment Management, as a financial investor, expects multinational enterprises to exhibit appropriate, prudent and transparent tax behaviour,” it said of Friday’s tax document.
(energyvoice)
