NORWAY TO TIGHTEN RULES FOR REGISTERING LOANS
Norway will from June require finance
institutions and insurance companies to report lending volume
to the central bank once a month rather than quarterly in a bid
to tighten domestic lending, Finance Ministry officials said.
    Norwegian Bank Association President Trond Reinertsen told
Reuters the new rule would make it more difficult for banks to
transfer funds to financial and insurance companies for
lending.
    Banks have in the past used the two month lapse in loan
registration to transfer money for lending to finance and
insurance groups to avoid penalty reserve requirements for
lending in excess of government set ceilings.
    The new rule brings loan reporting requirements for
insurance and finance companies in line with those already
applied to commercial banks, Ministry officials said.
    Borrowers have increasingly sought loans from finance and
insurance companies after the central bank last year clamped
down on what it called excessive bank lending.
    Bank lending dropped by five billion crowns in January from
260 billion crowns the previous month in response to the
stricter penalty reserve requirements, Oslo bankers said.
    They said recent central bank cuts in the overnight rate it
charges banks might offset new pressure on interest rates.
 REUTER
