January 7, 2016
Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund, the world’s largest, said Thursday it has excluded China’s ZTE Corporation from its portfolio after assessing corruption allegations made against the telecom equipment maker in several countries.
“The company is excluded based on an assessment of the risk of severe corruption,” said Norway’s central bank, which has the final word on ethically-based exclusions.
The decision was based on an assessment by the fund’s Council on Ethics, which said the Chinese company is facing corruption allegations in 18 countries and is under formal investigation in 10 countries. In addition, the company has one conviction for corruption, it said.
Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund held a 0.15% stake in ZTE Corporation at the end of 2014 worth $11.37 million.
The fund has previously excluded more than 60 companies from its investment range for ethical reasons, including companies producing land mines, tobacco or nuclear weapons, and companies at risk of violating human rights or causing severe environmental damage.