Norwegian authorities have historically maintained an administrative practice whereby private individuals, PE-funds and other non-financial owners may not own more than 25% of a Norwegian bank or insurance company.
The EFTA court concluded on 30 September 2025 that the administrative practice on the so-called "25%-limit" is contrary to EU/EEA-law and therefore illegal. The main point is that both the Capital Requirements Directive and Solvency II set out exhaustive assessment criteria for assessing the suitability of acquirers. It is therefore contrary to EU/EEA-law to maintain in force a practice whereby any application to own above 25% as a starting point is rejected, and that special reasons are required to deviate from this practice and permit ownership above 25%.
After this judgement, Norwegian authorities are now required to comply with the "ordinary suitability assessment" set out in EU/EEA-law. This provides opportunities to acquire larger holdings (up to 100%) in Norwegian banks and insurance companies, for example by PE-funds.
That said, individual assessments of suitability of acquirers are still necessary. It remains to be seen whether the 25 % rule will be replaced by a stricter application by the Norwegian FSA of the regular assessment criteria set out in the relevant directives.
