Norwegian Finanstilsynet identifies serious weaknesses at Gran Oppgjør AS in client-account interest payments, rent buffer controls and AML compliance

Norwegian Finanstilsynet has published an inspection report on Gran Oppgjør AS following an on-site inspection, finding significant weaknesses in the firm’s routines for calculating and paying interest on client accounts and in its adherence to internal procedures for controlling the "interest buffer" on the client accounts it was responsible for reconciling. The review also identified shortcomings in risk assessment, case-handling routines and compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Real Estate Brokerage Act; Gran Oppgjør AS discontinued its real estate brokerage activity on 4 March 2025. The inspection found multiple cases where buyers and sellers had not received accrued interest in completed transactions, in some instances for up to two years, and concluded that the firm’s processes did not ensure that clients received interest to which they were entitled, which Finanstilsynet assessed as a serious breach of the Real Estate Brokerage Regulations (section 3-10, fourth paragraph). Finanstilsynet also found inadequate control over the interest buffer, including errors in interest-liability reporting and a lack of documented monthly assessments of the buffer despite internal requirements. Further findings included deficiencies in anti-money laundering internal controls and errors detected in sample testing, shortcomings in the duty of care towards buyers in certain settlements under the Housing Construction Act, and a breach of the settlement statement requirement where a statement indicated completion despite a buyer withholding NOK 160,000 and was dated one month after the main settlement (section 3-13).