The purpose of the amendments is to provide Norwegian authorities with a wider range of tools to review, assess and possibly stop economic activities that may constitute a threat to national security. The most important amendments that came into force on 1 July 2023 are as follows:

The Ministries are given extended leeway to decide that the provisions under the NSA can apply to a greater number of companies than what has previously been the case. Going forward, the NSA will apply to companies that control information, information systems, objects (such as properties) or infrastructure, or that conduct activities that are of vital importance to national security interests, without being directly connected to a fundamental national function. In some cases, the nature of a tenant’s business or activity on the property/building, or the property’s proximity to a critical national object, can be of importance when determining whether a property owner should be subject to the Security Act.
Also, the authorities’ threshold for subjecting companies to the provisions on ownership control under chapter 10 of the NSA is lowered. Hence, ownership control will apply to a larger number of companies that are otherwise not subject to the NSA.
Companies comprised by the NSA are required to identify properties that, due to their location, may facilitate activities constituting a security threat against critical national objects or infrastructure. The preparatory work states that this may also apply to properties distant from the critical national object, for example properties that, due to their location, can be used to control traffic to and from a critical national object, for example properties along a road or a fjord leading to the national critical object. If it is not possible to maintain a sufficient level of security for such properties, the National Security Authority or the supervisory authority must be notified, and the Ministry is to supervise the property in question.
Any breach of the duty to implement security measures for the maintenance of reasonable levels of security can be sanctioned with a breach penalty.

The most important amendments that will come into effect at a later stage are as follows:

The threshold for the duty to notify in connection with acquisitions is lowered from at least one third to 10% of the share capital, participating interests or votes in the company.
The new proposal for the wording of the NSA establishes that a duty to notify is also triggered by an increase to at least 20%, a third, 50%, two thirds, and 90% of the share capital, participating interests or votes in the company. Hence, a duty to notify will be triggered in the event of continuous acquisitions. This provision clarifies the previous ambiguous wording in the NSA concerning the notification duty.
A standstill-period, i.e. a ban on implementation of the transaction in the period during which the authorities assess the acquisition after the notification has been submitted.
Both the buyer, the seller and the target company will have a duty to notify. However, as regards the seller and the target company, the duty to notify applies only in the event of direct acquisition of an owner’s share, participating interests or votes in the company.
The National Security Authority may impose a penalty for breach of the duty to notify and for breach of the ban on implementation.

In addition to the above-mentioned amendments, it is likely that more amendments will follow in this sector going forward. The NSA, including the recent and upcoming implementations, entails that it is important for companies to implement and have in place appropriate routines for assessing and handling security risks in connection with transactions.

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