Norway: Lots of Fjords—But Also Lots of Call Recording Protection, Too

With a total GDP of an estimated $418bn, Norway is rated as a stable economy with unusually equally strong private and public sectors and an extensive social safety net, and is so focused on a life post-Oil that it has one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, with over a trillion dollars safely saved for any future national ‘rainy day’.

With average net income exceeding OECD averages, King Harald V’s subjects are big users of digital banking and other financial products. Strong local financial regulation to protect them is a priority. So, too, is alignment with key EU-wide regulations, including MiFID II.

Based, unsurprisingly enough, in the national capital Oslo and under the supervision of the country’s Ministry of Finance, the Norwegian regulator tasked with implementing the regulations is called The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, or the Finanstilsynet. Working in this form since 1985 and renamed in 2009, the entity directly oversees Norway’s financial markets, insurance companies, debt collection agencies, and so on.

‘It is in the interest of a well-functioning securities market that Norwegian rules conform to EU rules’

The local market is dominated by around 120 relatively large Tier 1 banks, a few regional players and some local operators, and (2018 figures) the financial intermediation sector contributes approximately 6% to Norwegian GDP and employs around 2% (50,000 people) of the total labour force.

As part of the European Economic Area (EEA)), Norway is obliged to follow MiFID rules. Since 2017, Finanstilsynet has been implementing ‘mirror’ arrangements for both MiFID II and MiFIR (Markets in Financial Instruments) which became Norwegian law under the Securities Trading Act (last amended December 2019).

Finanstilsynet’s stated motivation for doing so was that, “The Norwegian securities market is important for a well-functioning Norwegian capital market, and for Norwegian firms' ability to raise capital for business efficiently and effectively [so] it is in the interest of a well-functioning securities market that Norwegian rules conform to EU rules.”

Coming into force in January 2018, the mirror MiFiD adopted by Finanstilsynet, then, is very much part of the state’s on-going work to ensure Norwegian financial institutions have the same rights but also obligations as EU ones. It’s worth noting that Norway had already been proactive in protection of both buyer and seller, with pre-MiFID legislation that had already required the recording of any mobile or fixed calls that could lead to a transaction, but the point is that the country has put call recording obligations very much into current law via the Securities Trading Act.

There, we see two pertinent sections: 9 and 19, specifically ‘9-17 'telephone conversations and electronic communications' and 'disclosure obligation'. In the first, it is specifically stated that Norwegian investment firms, central counterparties, data reporting services providers and market operators are obliged to disclose to Finanstilsynet such information as may be required about matters relating to their business and activities, and are “obliged to produce and, if applicable hand over for inspection, records and voice recordings in accordance with section 9-16 subsection (1) no. 8 and section 9-17 and other documents related to its activities” (p110). In the latter, it is confirmed that any investment firm looking to operate in the county shall take “all reasonable measures” to record and retain relevant telephone conversations and electronic communications made with, sent from or received by equipment provided by the investment firm to an employee or subcontractor, or the use of which by an employee or subcontractor is accepted or permitted by the investment firm.

The investment firm shall also take all reasonable steps to prevent an employee or subcontractor from making, sending or receiving relevant telephone calls and electronic communications on privately-owned equipment which the investment firm is unable to record, we are told.

These laws on call recording are also supported by Norway’s Personal Data Act, the country’s implementation of GDPR, and which is overseen by a data equivalent to the Finanstilsynet, the Datatilsynet.

Meet your Finanstilsynet call recording obligations with help from Touch  

So, thanks for the oversight of Finanstilsynet, Norway is ensuring adherence to MiFID II disciplines, cementing long-standing commitments around call recording designed to protect the investor.

All of which means companies active in these sectors need to comply with local implementation of EU regulations. How can you ensure full compliance with your obligations if you’re operating in the attractive Norwegian financial services market, then?

Touch has been helping both local and global financial institutions (as well as multinational organisations in other markets) fully comply with key industry regulations such as MiFID II for decades.

And, for even more reassurance, Touch Call Recording Service also supports the Dodd-Frank Act and its recording requirements (The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a United States federal law), for financial companies dealing with US customers.

So, working with our call recording experts means you can leave that to us - and focus your business.

Contact us today to see how we can help align you with MiFID II and other Finanstilsynet requirements for call recording.