The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, is the key government agency in charge of overseeing Norway's financial industry and is in charge of all financial organizations. The FSA's supervisory responsibility includes managing licensing and monitoring requirements for financial activity in Norway and ensuring that enterprises follow Norwegian government legislation such as anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation.
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (FSA) is an independent government organization that was founded in 1986 when the Norwegian Insurance Council, the Bank Inspection Agency, and the Broker Control Agency merged to establish the FSA. Until 2009, the Financial Supervisory Authority was known as the Credit Supervisory Authority (Kredittilsynet). The FSA is based in Oslo and is presently headed by Finn Arnesen. The Norwegian Ministry of Finance supervises it.
The FSA's mission is to promote financial stability and well-functioning marketplaces in Norway and collaborate with international regulatory agencies, such as ensuring that legislation relevant to EEA member states is implemented successfully in Norway.
The FSA fulfills the following functions:
Monitoring: On-site and off-site examinations of financial institutions in Norway are part of the FSA's regulatory responsibility. The FSA evaluates businesses against a set of risk-based criteria based on international anti-money laundering (AML) standards and performs ongoing evaluations to uncover emerging dangers that might threaten financial stability in the future.
Licensing: Organizations intending to act as banks or financial service providers in Norway must get a license from the FSA. The FSA establishes the requirements for companies seeking approval and manages the application process. When the FSA detects violations of licensing standards, it has the right to require businesses to correct the problem or, in the event of significant infringement, revoke licenses.
Reporting: When financial institutions notice questionable financial activity, they must notify the FSA. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) establishes reporting criteria for various types of financial institutions and the necessary reporting forms.
Regulation: The FSA collaborates with the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) to create, implement, and enforce financial legislation and anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing policies. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) publishes such regulations, as well as the institutions to whom they apply, on its website.
Communication: The FSA also serves as a network known for the financial industry, ensuring that financial institutions in Norway have access to the resources they need to comply with the country's AML/CFT financing rules.
AML in Norway
The Anti-Money Laundering Act (2018) is the main piece of AML law in Norway , and it incorporates the AML standards of the EU's 4AMLD and 5AMLD, as well as those laid forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The following institutions have to comply with the AML Law in Norway: Financing companies, banking, and credit service providers, payment service providers, holding companies, electronic money service providers, insurance and pension companies.
Obligated organizations in Norway must implement AML procedures to cope with the illegal risks posed by cryptocurrencies under 4AMLD and 5AMLD. The Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act placed financial institutions that provide cryptocurrency products under the oversight of the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA). It imposed additional reporting requirements for crypto storage and exchange services.
