The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway published a supervisory report on Sparebanken Sør’s marketing of securities funds, concluding that parts of the bank’s online price information are not presented in a sufficiently clear, accessible and balanced way. The most serious finding is that prospective customers must calculate the total price themselves from explanations of a complex pricing model and separate fee elements shown on open webpages. On the logged-in website and in the mobile banking app, the authority found it difficult to locate the price for individual funds and to understand what the price amounts to in nominal terms and its effect on expected returns. For customers looking to buy new funds, the fund list did not display price and included purchase buttons, while other information such as historic returns was more prominent; the price was only available after further navigation. Across channels, pricing terminology did not clearly indicate that charges are ongoing (for example, as an annual cost), and information was largely shown only as percentages. On open webpages, price information was routed via norne.no and split between a management fee and a custody fee (depothonorar) that varies by customer deposit amount and fund category, requiring customers to compute the combined cost themselves; the authority also questioned whether it is appropriate to market a “savings robot” whose results require login without stating this upfront. Sparebanken Sør agreed with the assessment and outlined interim corrections to the current webpages ahead of a full replacement of fund solutions in connection with its merger with Sparebanken Vest. Finanstilsynet took note of these measures and expects the report’s assessments to be reflected in the design of the new webpages, and asked the bank to share the report with its auditor and depositary.

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