Tag Archives: Financial Forum

AmCham Financial Forum: ESG Reporting Requirements & The Future of Search

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: ESG Reporting Requirements & The Future of Search

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at Azets’ Skøyen office for a Financial Forum focusing on ESG reporting requirements in Norway and leveraging new AI technologies.

ESG reporting compliance: how best to find and use relevant data required in Norway

With Europe at the forefront of implementing legislation on sustainability, companies operating in Norway need to stay up to date on reporting requirements. In combination with increased expectations from customers, investors, banks and other stakeholders, this accelerates the need for companies to document their environmental impact.

Azets provides holistic sustainability services for companies including ESG due diligence, strategy and sustainable business development and sustainability reporting. Mats Lorentsen, Head of ESG Services at Azets Advisory, gave participants an overview of the European Green Deal action plan, in particular the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) framework’s data requirements and where to find data to increase ESG insight.

Lorentsen joined participants in examining the major opportunities and challenges facing financial roles. The demand for sustainability data is increasing quickly, as 75,000 companies in the EU are now facing this mandatory requirement. Companies with data that complies will have a competitive advantage as even stricter regulations are expected.

“Expectations are that the sustainability gap is increasing, but the capability is not growing as fast. We need to keep up!”

Presenters

Ida Haneborg
Industry Head of Finance and Insurance


Mats Lorentsen
 Head of ESG Services at Azets Advisory

The Future of Search and Leveraging AI

Google’s Industry Head of Finance and Insurance, Ida Haneborg, gave participants updates on Google’s search functions – with the most significant improvements in 20 years. By combining search with their Gemini (AI), search can give more comprehensive answers to longer and more complex questions. Not only does it provide more useful results, but it has also changed the ways in which you can search – by taking a picture or interacting with your environment through the user’s camera. With two billion users every day and 15% of searches being completely novel, Haneborg remarked that curiosity is outpacing technology! The group concluded by discussing use cases to leverage new AI functions including data collection for ESG.

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 madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

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AmCham Financial Forum: Political Swings & Addressing Legacy Systems

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: Political Swings & Addressing Legacy Systems

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at DNB’s Bjørvika offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on the upcoming US election and cloud enabled digital transformation in finance.

DNB’s Senior Economist, Knut Magnussen, led participants through his macro team’s forecasts for how coming US election results can swing world markets.  
“Trumponomics 2.0” would likely see clear policy changes, most strikingly in the form of higher tariffs on trade – impacting all markets. Such tariffs could be quickly implemented through executive order. Immigration is another area of importance for the US economy as there is an acute need for labor. If this flow was to slow, it could put pressure on the labor market and wages.

Although daunting predictions, participants also discussed Biden’s achievements and the potential for the forecast to change as November approaches.

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Richard Caven – 
Lead EMEA Banking Specialist

Knut Magnussen –
Senior Economist

Cloud Transformation – Opportunities & Challenges

CFOs and finance departments are key stakeholders during an organization’s cloud-enabled digital transformation. London-based Richard Caven is a Worldwide Banking Specialist at Amazon Web Services. He is responsible for the development and execution of strategic initiatives to help customers migrate to the cloud and drive their digital transformation journey.

Caven joined participants in examining the major opportunities and challenges of cloud transformation in financial services and roles, such as how to make the finance team’s life easier.

Financial services can certainly benefit from replacing legacy database platforms by migrating to cloud-native database. Older core banking systems are costly to maintain and increasingly complex with new layers on technology stacked on top – which can make the systems vulnerable.

Cloud technologies are more resilient, can cut storage and maintenance costs, reduce risk, assist in compliance, as well as drive agility and innovation. However, it is critical to first determine the business outcomes and data strategy to get there. Caven highlighted the importance of having a clear data strategy and choosing the right architecture, giving participants several use cases.

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 Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

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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.

AmCham Financial Forum: The Rabbit, the Tortoise and Cross-Border Complexity

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: The Rabbit, the Tortoise and Cross-Border Complexity

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at Sparebank1 SR Bank’s new Oslo offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on transatlantic economic trends and TMF’s Global Business Complexity Index.

Sparebank 1 SR-Bank Chief Economist Kyrre M. Knudsen candidly led discussions on persisting international inflation impacts, EUR (“the tortoise”) / USD (“the rabbit”) / NOK (the undervalued) exchange rate indicators, and interest rate movements. US economic bellwethers were in focus, with participants contributing their unique industry perspectives.

Stavanger-based Knudsen, formerly with Equinor, Norges Bank, and the Ministry of Finance, is also a regular business media commentator in Dagens Næringsliv, Finansavisen and E24 among others.

Presenters

Kyrre M. Knudsen 
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank

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Niels Didrich Buch
TMF

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Business Complexity – Norway and the US in Focus

Nordic Market Head Niels Didrich Buch presented TMF Group’s 2023 Global Business Complexity Index, which provides an authoritative overview of the complexity of establishing and operating businesses around the world. It explores factors driving the success or failure of international business, with a focus on operating in foreign markets, and outlines key themes emerging globally.

Focusing on the Norwegian market, Buch gave a summary of the intricacies that face companies here and what new hurdles may impact operations compared to some of our Nordic neighbors.

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 Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

TMF Complexity Norway
TMF Complexity Norway 2

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AmCham Financial Forum: The Rabbit, the Tortoise and Cross-Border Complexity

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: The Rabbit, the Tortoise and Cross-Border Complexity

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at Sparebank1 SR Bank’s new Oslo offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on transatlantic economic trends and TMF’s Global Business Complexity Index.

Sparebank 1 SR-Bank Chief Economist Kyrre M. Knudsen candidly led discussions on persisting international inflation impacts, EUR (“the tortoise”) / USD (“the rabbit”) / NOK (the undervalued) exchange rate indicators, and interest rate movements. US economic bellwethers were in focus, with participants contributing their unique industry perspectives.

Stavanger-based Knudsen, formerly with Equinor, Norges Bank, and the Ministry of Finance, is also a regular business media commentator in Dagens Næringsliv, Finansavisen and E24 among others.

Presenters

Kyrre M. Knudsen 
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank

Speaker Logos

 

Niels Didrich Buch
TMF

Speaker Logos (2)

Business Complexity – Norway and the US in Focus

Nordic Market Head Niels Didrich Buch presented TMF Group’s 2023 Global Business Complexity Index, which provides an authoritative overview of the complexity of establishing and operating businesses around the world. It explores factors driving the success or failure of international business, with a focus on operating in foreign markets, and outlines key themes emerging globally.

Focusing on the Norwegian market, Buch gave a summary of the intricacies that face companies here and what new hurdles may impact operations compared to some of our Nordic neighbors.

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 Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

TMF Complexity Norway
TMF Complexity Norway 2

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AmCham Financial Forum: The Future of Banking & Global Supply Chains

Accounting / Financial, AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: The Future of Banking & Global Supply Chains

Cross-industry member leaders gathered at AmCham’s downtown offices for a morning Financial Forum focusing on the expectations for the future of banking and global supply chain updates.

PA Consulting Partner & Head of Financial Services Norway, Clint Sookermany, and Partner Financial Services and Head of Operating Model Capability, Knut Erlend Vik, jointly presented The Future of Retail Banking – How business leaders should respond.

Retail banking is one of many vital industries undergoing ever-faster change. In their recent report, The Vision for Banking: A Force for Future Good. PA Consulting has developed four potential industry scenarios for 2023 to better understand how banking might evolve. Participants went on to discuss real-world scenarios, impacts on their own industries, their likelihood and pros and cons of each.

Image: PA Consulting
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Presenters

Clint Sookermany – Partner & Head of Financial Services Norway

Knut Erlend Vik – Partner Financial Services and Head of Operating Model Capability

Morten Sloth Madsen – Managing Director of Norway & Sweden

Digitalization as a Driving Force

DSV’s Managing Director of Norway & Sweden, Morten Sloth Madsen, joined us for an update on the global supply chain with a look back at and predicted logistical impacts, developments, and expectations for the industry.

The past few years of pandemic, political unrest, container shortages, port congestion, geopolitical conflict, and inflationary pressures have exposed vulnerabilities in our supply chains – causing frustration for businesses and consumers alike. As a global player in air, ground and sea logistics, Madsen provided keen insights into the current market and what business leaders need to be highly aware of in the time ahead.

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 Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

DSV Slide
Image: DSV

Past Financial Forum Meetings

AmCham Financial Forum: Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud

AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud

Member and partner leaders gathered at WTW’s Skøyen office for our quarterly Financial Forum. This session focused on Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud. 

Multinational WTW, formerly Willis Towers Watson, provides data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital. WTW Norway’s Camilla Arnesen and Sara Hjelmberg informed participants on the state of the market with rising insurance premiums, key drivers for increased claims costs, and developing US liability considerations and impacts.

Presenters

Camilla Arnesen – Senior Broker Casualty & Financial Lines

WTW

Sara Hjelmberg – Practice Lead Casualty & Financial Lines

WTW

Howard Cooper – Managing Director & Global Co-Head of Financial Investigations Practice

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Justine Radnedge – Senior Manager

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Unraveling the International Laundering Machine

Headquartered in New York City, Kroll is an independent, global corporate investigation firm providing anti-corruption risk consulting for M&A, IPO and supply chain due diligence.

London-based, Howard Cooper and Justine Radnedge joined us for an update on how criminals are increasingly targeting employees to become unwitting co-conspirators in major fraud.

Cooper, the Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Financial Investigations Practice, shared a shocking case study involving a romantic connection made via LinkedIn that ended up costing the victimized company $250 million.

There has been an increase in external threats and criminal organizations are becoming more sophisticated and systematic. The critical weakness is the human aspect, meaning that every employee is a potential liability to the company.

Radnedge went on to cover the processes that Kroll deploys to track down criminal organizations as well as compliance protocols companies should make sure to astutely follow such situations.

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.

Read more about our Financial Forum and please contact Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings

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AmCham Financial Forum: National Budget Impacts for Business & (Re)negotiating Office Spaces

Accounting / Financial, AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: National Budget Impacts for Business & (Re)negotiating Office Spaces

Member and partner leaders gathered at Dalan Advokatfirma’s downtown office for our quarterly Financial Forum. This session focused on commercial property agreements, the suggested 2023 Norwegian National Budget impacts for business and a transatlantic economy in flux.

As post-pandemic offices continue to evolve, many AmCham companies are (re)negotiating price, size, and shared costs – while increasingly focusing on ESG impacts.

Presenters

Benedicte Krogh Grimstad – Partner

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Karoline Røvik Zeiner – Partner

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Mahmoud Farahmand – (H), Member of Stortinget’s Finance & Economic Affairs Committee

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Benedicte Krogh Grimstad and Karoline Røvik Zeiner, Partners at Dalan Advokatfirma, led the discussion through market trends within commercial real estate – noting their observations of a change in purpose for office spaces. Grimstad covered market trends as well as shared cost considerations for current energy pricing. According to Grimstad, companies are not downsizing as one would predict with prevailing work-from-home initiatives, but rather creating more flexible working environments with social zones and meeting points for collaboration. “The office is becoming a destination where people want to be.”

Karoline Røvik Zeiner when on to expertly detail the rapid emergence of standardized environmental addendums to commercial rental contracts. Obligating both landlords and renters to “contribute to environmentally friendly use and operation of the property,” such agreements include environmental standards, maintenance, improvement regimens and investment cost share provisions.

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National Budget Impacts for International Business

On October 6th, Norway’s minority center-left coalition government presented its proposal for the 2023 National Budget. Mahmoud Farahmand (H), Member of Stortinget’s Finance & Economic Affairs Committee, joined to discuss the priorities and reductions set forth and how these will impact the international business community.

“Increased employment tax will hamper Norway’s ability to compete in international markets,” stated Farahmand. Some international companies are in fact already hesitating to hire locally, as roundtable employment venue selection examples illustrated.

Farahmand also emphasized that the proposed discontinuation of reduced electricity tax rates for Norway-based data centers will severely hamper the country’s ability to digitize and compete for strategic cloud infrastructure. Targeted crypto mining regulation, it was agreed, should be finalized in lieu of spoiling Norway’s longstanding industry efforts and progress.

AmCham and Hill+Knowlton have summarized the proposed budget with the international focus of AmCham members in mind, available HERE.

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.

Read more about our Financial Forum and please contact Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings

AmCham Financial Forum: IPO Frenzy and Transparent Compensation

Accounting / Financial, AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: IPO Frenzy and Transparent Compensation

Leaders gathered at KPMG Norway’s downtown offices for AmCham’s quarterly Financial Forum. Reflecting on his own observations over the past years’ “Norwegian IPO Frenzy,” our forum was kicked off by Geir Bjørlo, Partner at Corporate Communications. With 100 listings since 2020, the pace has now slowed to only a handful due to current uncertainty.

Oslo Børs is hotter than Nasdaq and London. Oslo Børs holds a unique position internationally and is world-leading within the energy, shipping and seafood sectors, making Norway a preferred country for IPOs – as international stakeholders trust Norway’s financial institutions and methods.

Most of the Norwegian IPOs are related to sustainable investments and “energy capital” considerations. More listings are expected to take place post-summer, with the next window occurring in September through October.

“Uplisting” has been a buzzword over the past 12 months, says Bjørlo, referring to the process of listing an existing public stock on a major exchange. For example, transferring the listing venue from Euronext Growth to the main list on Oslo Børs. Uplisting reflects the company’s growth ambitions and shareholder base while contributing to increased visibility and access to a larger investor audience.

It has been very common for companies going public to announce targets for their projected earnings in 2025 rather than their actual past performance since a lot of companies still don’t have meaningful revenues. This practice is not usual on the NYSE for example.

Bjørlo walked participants through the “IPO toolbox,” illustrating how to build a trustworthy and credible company, as well as how to avoid post-listing value destruction. “ESG reporting is where accounting was in the 50’s,” suggesting there is still much work to be done in making ESG reporting more sophisticated.

Norway continues to be a preferred country for investments in seafood, shipping and energy, with the latter now branching to renewables in addition to “traditional” energy markets.

Presenters

Geir Bjørlo – Partner

Simona Vasile – Tax & Legal Partner 

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Image: Corporate Communications

Empowering Talent: Structure, Values, Technology Enabled Processes, and Equitable and Transparent Compensation

Simona Vasile, KPMG Tax & Legal Partner and the Head of Technology & Innovation at KPMG Law, presented trends and methodologies on current pain points of talent retention, gender pay gaps, how the remote workforce is reshaping policy decisions, and compensation benefit strategies while preserving value.

Following the pandemic, many companies still allow their employees to work remotely, however, making sure the employees stay compliant becomes a bigger liability. According to Vasile, “the ability to work remotely looks amazing from the talent perspective but can be an absolute headache for companies.” For employees looking to work from another country, this could mean that they need to be paid the local salary and pay taxes in the country they work from. Vasile also notes that there are differences between industries. Tech companies generally allow their employees more remote work than other industries.

Companies have tried to incentivize employees to stay in their positions (and some at their desks, or at least their country) through a variety of perks such as travel, bikes, and meals, but each incentive requires many layers of administration for the company. Many companies therefore opt for monetary bonuses according to Vasile.

Vasile also shared innovative technology insights using automation, AI and data analytics to both better understand employee preferences and customize the employee experience by creating seamless interactions with collaborators and partners. One such tool that KPMG uses is an Employment Methodology Framework to evaluate companies on aspects including employee retention, diversity and gender balance, and employee compensation.

Image: KPMG

About the AmCham Financial Forum

The AmCham Financial Forum is a platform that provides member financial leads the opportunity to interact, share best practices, and learn from each other – building a better understanding of what it takes to run a successful international finance department in Norway. 

Read more about our Financial Forum and please contact Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings.

AmCham Financial Forum: Bitcoin for Business and the CFO’s Role in Resilience

Accounting / Financial, AmCham News

AmCham Financial Forum: Bitcoin for Business and the CFO’s Role in Resilience

Presenters

Leaders from AIG, American Express, Amgen, Badenoch + Clark, BI Norwegian Business School, Citi, Gard, Helly Hansen, Interimleder, KPMG, Kvamme Associates, Sparebank1, Raise Gruppen (IC Scandinavia), and Rud Pedersen gathered in person and virtually at AmCham Norway’s downtown offices for our quarterly Financial Forum.

Magnus Jones, Nordic Blockchain & Innovation Lead at EY Tax & Law, led with “money equals trust, and without trust there is no value.” The same holds true for cryptocurrency, as Jones illustrated with Dogecoin – both before and after Elon Musk tweeted about it. However, money also equals politics and there has been an intense push for sound regulatory frameworks to be set.

After providing a high-level overview of bitcoin and cryptocurrency and what needs to be understood as it relates to businesses, Jones urged financial leaders not to rush, but to prepare for where their organizations will inevitably be heading. “All companies will touch bitcoin going forward. All major central banks are evaluating crypto.”

Jones also shared expert insights on the demographics of bitcoin users, the convenience of use, traceability, criminal activity, energy use and how companies can best prepare themselves (including within the Metaverse). Jones illustrated examples of how EY has assisted several transatlantic companies within the crypto industry. 

Magnus Jones – Nordic Blockchain & Innovation Lead

Dennis Larsen – Managing Partner

Sustainability as a Business Model

Reputation Inc Managing Partner Dennis Larsen spoke on the CFO’s role within sustainability, from reporting to financial resilience. He clearly explained how the CFO should be firmly involved in the purpose of the organization, protecting brand value and reputation as a company’s most valuable business assets. “The one that holds the purse strings is the one who influences the priority.”

Reputation Inc assists organizations in successfully navigating reputational opportunities and challenges, while leveraging purposeful actions that make a material difference, winning trust, respect, and admiration from stakeholders. Although reputation dynamics are unique to each organization, two key drivers are sustainability and culture, according to Larsen.

In many cases, sustainability leads report to corporate communications departments, when they should be directly linked to CFO’s. For their part, “CFO’s should act as sustainability strategists, accelerators, stewards and analysts.”

Larsen shared multiple transformational examples, including from Unilever, Heineken, BlackRock and Novartis, with the latter embedding trust into their KPI’s to become the most trusted pharma company. As Larsen put it, “it is not a sustainability model, it is a business model.”

About the AmCham Financial Forum

The AmCham Financial Forum is a platform that gives financial leaders from AmCham’s member companies the opportunity to interact, share best practices, and learn from each other – building a better understanding of what it takes to run a successful international finance department in Norway. For interest in participating, please contact Madeleine.Brekke@amcham.no.