(International Law Office, London, Until recently, Norwegian credit institution Eksportfinans ASA administered the official export credit scheme. Eksportfinans is jointly owned by a consortium of banks (85%) and government (15%). On November 18 2011, following a public debate regarding a possible permanent exemption from the new EU Capital Requirements Directive regulations for Eksportfinans, the government announced it will establish a public entity to assume responsibility for the scheme offering subsidised interest (CIRR) loans. During and after this debate, Eksportfinans was downgraded several times by international credit rating agencies.
