Oslo Børs: Harald Espedal Resigns From Board Positions

Attention is drawn to the Oslo Børs press release of 24 August in which it is announced that the Board of Directors of Oslo Børs has resolved to impose a violation charge on Sandnes Sparebank for a breach of the duty to disclose inside information to the market. Harald Espedal is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sandnes Sparebank. He is also Deputy Chair of the Boards of Directors of Oslo Børs ASA and Oslo Børs VPS Holding ASA. As a consequence of the decision taken by the Board of Directors of Oslo Børs in relation to Sandnes Sparebank, Harald Espedal has decided of his own accord to resign from the latter two board positions today.

The reason for the violation charge is that the Board of Oslo Børs has concluded that Sandnes Sparebank did not publish inside information regarding losses on customer loans sufficiently promptly. The circumstances of the case relate to two situations which changed the bank's expected loan loss calculations and led to significantly higher write-downs. The write-downs had a material impact on the bank's consolidated result and contributed to a need to raise new capital.

"I stand by the assessments made by Sandnes Sparebank during this process, but do not think it right for me to continue to serve on the Board of Oslo Børs when a violation charge is being imposed on a company where I am Chairman of the Board", comments Harald Espedal. 

It is emphasised that Harald Espedal's decision to resign from the board positions is independent of the further consideration of the matter by Sandnes Sparebank. Sandnes Sparebank can appeal the decision of the Board of Directors of Oslo Børs to the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee. An appeal must be submitted within two weeks.

"Harald Espedal has made an important contribution to our boards over many years thanks to his expertise as well as his extensive and extremely relevant experience from the perspective of investors in our markets. The Board of Oslo Børs manages the regulations for these markets and is therefore largely responsible for maintaining confidence in Oslo Børs. I have a great deal of respect for his decision and would like to acknowledge that Harald has put confidence in Oslo Børs and the group ahead of his own position", comments Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, Chair of the Boards of Oslo Børs ASA and Oslo Børs VPS Holding ASA.