All posts by Margrethe Harboe

Norway keeps interest rate on hold, eyes September cut

Business News, Financial / Investment
OSLO, March 21 (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high of 4.50% on Thursday, as unanimously expected by analysts, and signalled it plans a single cut to the cost of borrowing this year, fewer than anticipated by most economists.
 
“The rate path we’re presenting today indicates… an autumn rate cut, most likely in September,” Governor Ida Wolden Bache told a press conference.

A second rate reduction could follow by the end of March 2025, she later said.
The Norwegian crown strengthened to 11.51 against the euro by 1050 GMT, from 11.53 just before the announcement.
 
The forward rate curve for the years 2024 to 2026 was largely unchanged from levels seen in December, Norges Bank’s monetary policy report showed, with a rate of 4.25% at the end of the current year.
Analysts in the Reuters poll on average have forecast that Norges Bank will cut the cost of borrowing twice in the second half of 2024, to 4.0% by year-end.
 
Read full article here.

Trump allies eye changes to IRA tax credit rules

Business News, Trade

The Democrat-only IRA included a suite of tax credits for climate-friendly energy sources and electric vehicles as part of an effort to combat climate change. It also included money for grants that subsidize climate-friendly or pollution-cutting projects and a program to punish oil and gas companies for leaks of planet-warming methane. 

Since its passage, the law has been in the crosshairs of Republicans. If they win the White House and both chambers of Congress, they’re likely to aim for at least a partial repeal.

If they win the presidency but don’t get both houses of Congress — or need time to work out the specifics of a repeal — a second Trump administration could also go to executive action to curtail the law’s reach.

“We need a strategy for day one, thinking about how we can put the American taxpayer first,” said Oliver McPherson-Smith, director of the Center for Energy & Environment at the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing nonprofit that includes several Trump administration alumni.

Read full article here.

AmCham Financial Forum: AI in the Finance Function & Global Risk Updates

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: AI in the Finance Function & Global Risk Updates

 

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at Marsh McLennan’s Skøyen offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on top business risks for 2024 and modernizing financial teams.

Marsh McLennan’s Commercial Lead Per Haagensen and Head of Sales Risk Management Christoffer Torkildsen guided us through the findings of their latest Global Risk Report, jointly published with the World Economic Forum.

In the 19th iteration of the report the top three risk concerns for the next two years were 1) Cyber 2) Societal Polarization and 3) Extreme Weather – whereas the top three concerns for the next 10 years were 1) Armed Conflict 2) Cyber and 3) Extreme Weather. The major changes in the 2024 report were found in the short-term responses, potentially because we have just come out the other side of a pandemic (2022) and inflation (2023) and this year will be a big election year in many countries.

Participants discussed the responses as well as underappreciated risks such as terrorism, which has dropped off the top list. War has completely dropped off the list – “this is no longer a risk; this is a fact.”

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Per Haagensen – Commercial Lead

Christoffer Torkildsen – Head of Sales Risk Management

General Purpose AI in the Finance Function, today and tomorrow

AI can help CFOs manage all essential tasks of the finance function — from budgeting and cost/benefit analyses to managing revenue streams and compliance. PwC’s AI Director Lars Leganger joined participants to present AI developments focusing on how to best maximize financial team workflow transitions.

Leganger emphasized that leaders must think carefully about how to apply AI in existing processes and gave examples of good use cases. He noted the need for modernization of the financial team, quality control and the need for experienced data scientists.

Leganger is an expert on the use – and the prevention of misuse – of advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI in business process automation and augmentation. In addition to advisory work, he and his teams develop internal AI-solutions for PwC’s audit, tax, and legal practices.

 

Lars Leganger – AI Director

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About the AmCham Financial Forum

AmCham’s collaborative Financial Forum enables cross-industry leaders to openly exchange and learn from their peers – building a better understanding of what it takes to maintain successful international operations in Norway.

Please contact amcham@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

HOD: Metodevurderinger SKAL fullføres innen 180 dager

Business News, Health

 

Helseministeren kommer med et tydelig krav til Direktoratet for medisinske produkter: Alle metodevurderinger av legemidler skal fullføres innen 180 dager.

Dette nye tiltaket, som er en markant innstramming fra tidligere retningslinjer, tar sikte på å fremskynde tilgangen til nye og potensielt livsforbedrende legemidler for pasienter. 

Kravet fra Helseministeren kommuniseres i Tildelingsbrevet til Direktoratet for medisinske produkter (DMP). Men det er ikke aktuelt med forskriftsfesting av kravet, statssekretær Karl Kristian Bekeng (AP) i Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet (HOD) til HealthTalk.

Kraftfullt grep fra Kjerkol

Et tildelingsbrev er et styringsdokument fra et departement til en underordnet etat, som angir politiske prioriteringer, mål, oppgaver, og økonomiske rammer for et kommende år. Det sikrer at etaten arbeider i tråd med regjeringens politikk og mål, og spesifiserer krav til rapportering og forvaltning av tildelte ressurser.

I lys av økende politiske frustrasjoner etter årevis med lang og stadig økende saksbehandlingstid for vurderinger av nye legemidler, har helseministeren nå tatt et kraftfullt grep for å adressere problemet. 

Read full article here.

Microsoft rolls out Copilot AI tool to finance teams

Business News, Technology

The move is part of Microsoft’s effort to layer AI across its enterprise offerings, with the ambitious goal of impacting every role in the workplace.


Dive Brief:

  • Microsoft on Thursday announced that it’s publicly rolling out a corporate finance version of its virtual assistant known as Copilot, which is powered by generative artificial intelligence technology.

  • Microsoft Copilot for Finance, which is now in “public preview” mode, has been embedded into Microsoft 365 apps such as Excel, Outlook and Teams, with the goal of making financial processes like accounts receivable collections and forecasting analysis more seamless, according to a blog post.

  • “We’ve been testing it ourselves as customer zero, you could say, for several weeks now,” Cory Hrncirik, modern finance lead at Microsoft, said in an interview.  

Read full article here.

HOD: Metodevurderinger SKAL fullføres innen 180 dager

Business News, Health

Dette nye tiltaket, som er en markant innstramming fra tidligere retningslinjer, tar sikte på å fremskynde tilgangen til nye og potensielt livsforbedrende legemidler for pasienter. 

Kravet fra Helseministeren kommuniseres i Tildelingsbrevet til Direktoratet for medisinske produkter (DMP). Men det er ikke aktuelt med forskriftsfesting av kravet, statssekretær Karl Kristian Bekeng (AP) i Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet (HOD) til HealthTalk.

Kraftfullt grep fra Kjerkol
Et tildelingsbrev er et styringsdokument fra et departement til en underordnet etat, som angir politiske prioriteringer, mål, oppgaver, og økonomiske rammer for et kommende år. Det sikrer at etaten arbeider i tråd med regjeringens politikk og mål, og spesifiserer krav til rapportering og forvaltning av tildelte ressurser.

I lys av økende politiske frustrasjoner etter årevis med lang og stadig økende saksbehandlingstid for vurderinger av nye legemidler, har helseministeren nå tatt et kraftfullt grep for å adressere problemet. 

Les hele artikkelen her.

AI Measures in US and EU: Preparing Businesses for New Requirements & Expectations

AmCham News

AI Measures in US and EU: Preparing Businesses for New Requirements & Expectations

In partnership with SAS Institute and our fellow Nordic AmChams, we were pleased to host a virtual discussion on AI measures in the US & EU with Reggie Townsend, Vice President at SAS Institute and member of the U.S. National AI Advisory Committee.

The event focused on governmental measures aimed at regulating AI, including the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Executive Order in the US, and the EU’s upcoming Trustworthy AI Act.

Josefin Rosén – Nordic Head of AI

Reggie Townsend

Reggie Townsend – Vice President

As a member of the AI Advisory Board to President Biden, Reggie Townsend shared the background and status of the Executive Order. Joining the discussion was SAS Institute’s Nordic Head of AI Josefin Rosén, who shared the status of the EU’s AI regulatory law coming into force in the coming months.

We sincerely thank our friends at AmCham Denmark for arranging and virtually hosting us!

Empire Wind 1 awarded offtake contract in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation round

Business News, Shipping & Offshore

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project one of the conditional winners in its fourth offshore wind solicitation round.

The award is an important milestone for the advancement of the project, which can deliver 810 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to New York. An already highly mature offshore wind project, Empire Wind 1 targets to deliver first power to New York in 2026.

Equinor and NYSERDA will now negotiate an Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) Purchase and Sale Agreement, with contract execution expected within Q2 2024.

“Today’s award is an important milestone in our continued efforts to maximize value creation from Empire Wind 1, currently one of the biggest and most mature renewables projects in the US. The award represents an important contribution to New York’s climate ambitions from a large-scale project in a growth market that has demonstrated a strong commitment to offshore wind. We are working diligently to bring the project to an investment decision during the third quarter of this year. With the use of project financing, we currently expect our US East Coast offshore wind investments to deliver full-cycle nominal equity returns within the range of 12-16%. We intend to farm down to a new partner at the right time to further enhance value and reduce our exposure,” said Pål Eitrheim, executive vice president of Equinor Renewables.

Read full article here.

Equinor secures new helicopter capacity

Business News, Shipping & Offshore

Equinor secures 15 new helicopters for passenger traffic on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) through contracts with helicopter manufacturers Bell and Leonardo.

After an extensive process, Equinor has qualified new helicopter types for passenger transport on the NCS. Under these contracts, Equinor will receive ten new Bell 525 helicopters and five AW189 helicopters.

“These helicopter types will supplement the current Sikorsky S-92. All three helicopter models meet stringent safety requirements. By increasing from one to three helicopter models on the NCS we get more flexibility and regularity,” says Kjetil Hove, executive vice president, Exploration & Production Norway.

The first two helicopters will be delivered from Leonardo in the first quarter of 2025. In 2026, Leonardo will deliver three, and Bell four helicopters. The additional six helicopters from Bell will be delivered in line with the agreed production plan for the period 2027-2030.

Read full article here.

Telenor Group Announces Collaboration with NVIDIA to Support its AI-First Ambition

Business News, Technology

Barcelona—Mobile World Congress —February 26, 2024: Telenor announced today it is collaborating with NVIDIA to bring AI across the Nordic region, transform internal operational efficiencies and the communications network, and create new AI opportunities and partnerships with startups, enterprises, and government entities. With this collaboration, Telenor plans to become a sovereign AI cloud partner of NVIDIA, enabling generative AI across Nordic markets at the national level. In addition, Telenor aims to implement innovative AI solutions across its operations, from customer service to network optimisation.

As part of the collaboration, Telenor will leverage NVIDIA’s expertise in AI, cloud, and network technologies to create new opportunities for internal efficiencies and improve customer solutions. With initial operations at the national level in Norway, Telenor will enable generative AI across the region, signifying a leap forward for community and developer initiatives.

Telenor’s AI ambitions are firmly rooted in its AI-first program, which was announced today, that prioritises value-driven use cases across business areas, data modernisation, and responsible AI development in an inclusive, safe, secure, and sustainable way, as well as human capital upskilling. Telenor believes in a human-centric approach to AI development and use, working to raise ethical standards with regards to digital inclusion, sustainability, and security, as well as mitigating risks.

Read full article here.