The Norwegian Bank informed on December 03rd that it removed Petrobras from the list of companies under observation, included in January 2016, following the cases revealed by the Operation Car Wash. The bank followed a recommendation from the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund Ethics Council, which recognized the measures implemented by Petrobras to combat corruption. With the withdrawal from the list, Petrobras will again be eligible to receive investments from the Norwegian fund.

In its recommendation to the bank, the Ethics Council highlights Petrobras' willingness to collaborate with the investigations and with the resolution of the cases. "In the opinion of the Board, the measures that Petrobras has implemented in recent years demonstrate considerable willingness and ability to prevent, discover and deal with corruption", stated. The Council also points out that the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor and the Federal Supreme Court officially defined Petrobras as a victim in the context of the Operation Car Wash investigations.

“This is a recognition of the hard, technical and committed work that has been done by the Governance and Compliance Board staff over the last few years. Our already much more robust internal control system is evolving to become a reference on the national and international scene. The measures implemented are transforming the internal environment and are already reflected externally, proving that the Operation Car Wash is a turning page in the history of Petrobras”, said Marcelo Zenkner, Petrobras Governance and Compliance Officer.

Since 2014, Petrobras has implemented a number of compliance measures, such as the creation of an independent Complaint Channel and Integrity Due Diligence, a process that evaluates the mechanisms to combat fraud and corruption of companies with which Petrobras does business. The company also began to apply the Integrity Background Check (BCI), which is the integrity check of all managers and employees who work in critical processes.

The Fund 

Created after oil discoveries in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sovereign Fund is a kind of Nordic savings, supported by resources from the oil industry. The Fund currently invests in around 9,000 companies in 70 countries and, in addition to profitability, considers integrity, environmental and social issues in its investment decisions.