Norway Wealth Fund Made Mistakes When Buying Stake In F1, CEO Slyngstad Says

Norway's $850B sovereign wealth fund "made mistakes" when it bought shares in F1 and "may try to sell them," according to Joachim Dagenborg of REUTERS. Norway wealth fund CEO Yngve Slyngstad said that the fund "may seek to offload the stake" if corruption charges against F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "are not properly addressed." Several parliamentarians questioned last week whether the world's largest sovereign wealth fund should have taken a $1.6B stake in the motor sport in May '12. Their comments came after newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv "questioned whether the fund had violated its mandate by making the deal." Slyngstad said, "Yes, we made a mistake. In retrospect, what is most unfortunate is what eventually has ended up in corruption charges." The Norway wealth fund chief said that the fund "would not want to remain an owner" of Formula One if the company's board does not respond to the corruption allegations in an "appropriate manner." Slyngstad: "We have zero tolerance for corruption" (REUTERS, 3/11).