The Supervisory Council of Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, has sent a letter to the bank’s Executive Board with questions over the hiring of the incoming Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) CEO, Nicolai Tangen.

The letter requests that the Executive Board provides a written account of the hiring of Tangen and further details on certain matters, including documentation. The appointment of Tangen was announced at the end of March and he is due to take up the role in September 2020.

Earlier this week, the Supervisory Council held a meeting at which Norges Bank governor, Øystein Olsen, who gave an account of the process leading to the appointment of Tangen.
It is the latest in an escalating crisis surrounding Tangen’s appointment following a report that first appeared in the Norwegain newspaper, VG, last Saturday 18 April.

It centres around the contact outgoing CEO, Yngve Slyngstad, had with Tangen prior to his appointment and the involvement Slyngstand had in the hiring process of the new CEO. Since this Norges Bank has released all correspondence between Tangen and Slyngstad over the years.

In an email dated 6 January 2020, which has been released by Norges Bank, Tangen asks Slyngstad for “a little favour”, in which he goes on to ask whether Syngstad has time for a 30 minute call to talk about “what the job involves in terms of political guidance, opportunities, and the like”? However, Slyngstad never responded to this email.

In its latest letter to the Executive Board, the council asks for written responses no later than 29 April 2020. It is seeking answers to questions on how the Executive Board will ensure Tangen’s personal interests, such as AKO Capital, of which he is a founder, will not conflict with his position as CEO of NBIM.

It also asks for written information on what guidelines and requirements are in place when hiring a new CEO for NBIM, both for the Executive Board and the hiring committee.

The Supervisory Board also requests an overview of the processes that have been carried out to ensure compliance between qualification requirements and actual qualifications. This includes interviews, background checks and use of references etc.

In addition, it asks for Norges Bank’s ethical guidelines. The council has concerns over outgoing CEO Slyngstad’s participation at a “Back to University” seminar at Wharton Business School last autumn, which was organised and paid for by Tangen’s company. The council believes this could be a breach of Norges Bank's Code of Ethics.

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