The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority has published an inspection report identifying material deficiencies in Hovden Consult’s compliance with anti-money laundering rules and serious weaknesses in its accounting engagements. The firm subsequently improved its business-wide risk assessment and anti-money laundering procedures, leading the authority to withdraw a planned corrective order covering those areas. The review found inadequate customer risk classification, due diligence and ongoing monitoring, as well as delayed investigation in one case. Across five accounting engagements, the authority identified serious failures in quality assurance, reconciliations and documentation. These included insufficient checks on a NOK 3.8 million cash balance and missing or inadequate reconciliation documentation for 19% to 45% of balance sheet accounts in four engagements. It also found outdated engagement agreements, missing data processing agreements, undocumented material client communications and failures to consider withdrawing from engagements despite persistent deficiencies affecting financial reporting. Hovden Consult must provide a copy of the inspection report to its auditor.
Norwegian Finanstilsynet2026-08-12
Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority identifies serious anti-money laundering and accounting failings at Hovden Consult
The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority found material anti-money laundering deficiencies and serious accounting failures at Hovden Consult. The firm corrected shortcomings in its risk assessment and anti-money laundering procedures, avoiding a planned corrective order, but the review also identified inadequate engagement quality controls, reconciliations, documentation and client follow-up.