NORWAY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Beret Sundet, Elin Moen, Olav Kolstad and Harald K. Selte, BAHR
• removal of the automatic standstill for transactions called in; • an extension of the timeline, including the possibil - ity of a voluntary extension of 20 working days and a “summer holiday” suspension of all deadlines in July; and • several other minor adjustments. The report also includes several adjustments pro - posed by a minority of its members, including a full harmonisation of the content requirements for noti - fications with the Form CO used in the EU and the corresponding requirements in Sweden and Denmark. Since the delivery of the report, the Ministry has car - ried out a public hearing and is now considering the proposals. In its hearing statement, the NCA support - ed several of the suggested amendments, as well as a number of the amendments supported by a minority in the committee. The NCA inter alia proposed exten - sions to the required content of notifications and extensions to the Phase II review period. A bill to the Parliament is now being prepared by the Ministry and is expected in spring 2027 or later. Market investigation – a “tool” yet to be deployed On 1 July 2025, amendments to the Competition Act were enacted, giving the NCA the power to conduct market investigations and intervene in markets even in the absence of any wrongdoing by the market par - ticipants. The NCA has the power to intervene with both behav - ioural and structural remedies if it finds that there are conditions in the market that materially restrict, or are capable of materially restricting, competition con - trary to the purpose of the Competition Act. Struc - tural remedies may, however, only be imposed where behavioural remedies would be less effective or where structural remedies are considered less burdensome for the undertaking concerned. The amendments to the Act regulate the procedures for market investigations, including a duty to carry out a public hearing before a market investigation is initi - ated. A decision to intervene in a market as a result of a market investigation must be made at the latest 18
months after initiation, which may be extended by six months in “exceptional circumstances”. At the time of writing, the NCA has just announced that it is initiating a sector inquiry, as a first step towards a market investigation, into the banking sec - tor – citing signs of poor competition. It is expected that within the next year the NCA will decide whether to put the new instrument to use and initiate a full market investigation. Administrative changes at the NCA Significant administrative changes are taking place at the NCA. The new Director General of the NCA, Mr Mads Magnussen, assumed his position on 1 January 2026. Mr Magnussen comes from a position as part - ner in a Norwegian law firm and has previous experi - ence both as a judge in a district court and as legal director at the NCA. He is the first Director General in many decades with a legal background, the position having traditionally been held by an economist. The position as chief economist at the NCA has also recently been announced, due to the current chief economist leaving to take another position within the NCA. As Mr Magnussen is still in the early stage of his tenure and the new chief economist is yet to be appointed, it is too early to assess how these administrative chang - es will affect the NCA’s work and priorities. Foreign investment screening in Norway Significant revisions have been passed – but are still awaiting entry into force Norway currently operates a statutory screening regime for acquisitions in sensitive targets, embed - ded in Chapter 10 of the National Security Act, which requires notification of qualifying acquisitions in des - ignated entities. Norwegian authorities have proven to be active enforcers of the Security Act, with three interventions since the introduction of the statutory screening regime against acquisitions in companies active within ship propulsion technology, telecommu - nications infrastructure and strategic real estate.
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