Norway Fund Says Russia Exit Held Up by Sanctions on Its Bank

Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund is barred from proceeding with the planned divestment of its $292 million of worth of Russian holdings as the custodian bank is under sanctions.

“The concrete and practical problem is that the custodian bank that we use is under sanctions, and can’t assist us with settlement of transactions, and neither with voting on shares” in Russian companies, Trond Grande, deputy chief executive officer, told reporters at a news conference in Oslo on Tuesday. “So therefore the situation is deadlocked. There is no way we can either sell or buy or vote on these shares.”