Statement from the Norwegian Ministry of Finance on October 1, 2012 does not impact Eksportfinans' exemptions from large exposures regulations regarding loans to five specific clients. For the remaining business activities, Eksportfinans has adapted to the new regulations.
On October 1, 2012, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance stated that temporary exemptions from the new regulations concerning the calculation of exposures to one single client will be discontinued after December 31, 2012, with reference to the Ministry's decision on October 19, 2011.
Eksportfinans is subject to general temporary exemptions as described in the Ministry's statement. As expected, these exemptions are valid until December 31, 2012 and Eksportfinans has adapted to the new regulations.
In addition, loans to five clients have previously been reported to potentially be in breach of the prevailing regulations at the end of 2012. In a letter dated February 13, 2012, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway ("FSA") granted extended time limits as to when Eksportfinans' loan exposures shall be in compliance with the statutory maximum limits for these loans.
Today, the Norwegian FSA has confirmed that these extended time limits are still valid. Thus, the Ministry's statement does not affect these specific exemptions.
The exemption periods are specific to each loan and last until the respective loan has reached the regulatory level, as a result of scheduled repayments of principal, between December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2016.
Eksportfinans has previously explained its general and specific exemptions from these regulations, please refer to Eksportfinans' first half-year report 2012 (page 5).