§ 8-2. Transitional rules: does the Act apply to old agreements?

The Financial Contracts Act (Finansavtaleloven)·LOV-2020-12-18-146

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In brief

The text of the law (unofficial translation)

§ 8-2. Transitional rules

(1) The Act applies to agreements entered into before the Act entered into force, with the special rules laid down in the second paragraph or in regulations (forskrift) issued pursuant to the third paragraph. The Act's rules on entering into agreements and on obligations in connection with entering into agreements, including rules on the duty to provide information prior to entering into the agreement and rules on the right of withdrawal and the reflection period (betenkningstid), apply when the agreement is entered into after the Act has entered into force.
(2) The following special rules apply to older agreements:
  1. §§ 3-46 to 3-52 apply only when the breach occurs after the Act has entered into force.
  2. §§ 4-30 to 4-33 on liability for unauthorised payment transactions apply only to payment transactions initiated after the Act has entered into force.
  3. § 4-44 on notice of termination (oppsigelse) of an account with a lock-in period applies only to account agreements (kontoavtaler) entered into after the Act has entered into force.
  4. The rules in § 5-12 on foreign currency loans apply only to agreements entered into after the Act has entered into force. Where the available credit amount is increased after the Act has entered into force, § 5-12 nevertheless also applies to agreements entered into before its entry into force.
  5. § 7-1 on penalties and § 7-2 on administrative fines (overtredelsesgebyr) apply only to violations that take place after the Act has entered into force. For violations that take place before the Act has entered into force, the rules in Act of 25 June 1999 No. 46 on financial agreements and financial intermediation (lov om finansavtaler og finansoppdrag) and Act of 20 June 2014 No. 27 on the duty to provide information and the right of withdrawal in distance selling and off-premises sales (lov om opplysningsplikt og angrerett ved fjernsalg og salg utenom faste forretningslokaler) apply as that Act read before this Act entered into force.
(3) The Ministry may issue transitional rules. The transitional rules may make exceptions from the rules in this section.
Source: Lovdata — Finansavtaleloven (the Financial Contracts Act) § 8-2

What does this mean?

The main rule is that the Act also applies to agreements entered into before it entered into force. There are, however, important exceptions. The rules on how an agreement is entered into and on obligations in connection with that, including the duty to provide information, the right of withdrawal and the reflection period, apply only to agreements entered into after the entry into force. Otherwise, the special rules in the second paragraph apply, and the Ministry can issue further transitional rules, including exceptions from this section.

There are five special rules for older agreements. The rules on sanctions for breach (§§ 3-46 to 3-52) apply only to breaches that occur after the entry into force. Liability for unauthorised payment transactions (§§ 4-30 to 4-33) applies only to transactions initiated after the entry into force. The rules on notice of termination of an account with a lock-in period (§ 4-44) apply only to account agreements entered into after the entry into force. The rules on foreign currency loans (§ 5-12) apply only to agreements entered into after the entry into force, but if the credit amount is later increased, they also apply to older agreements. Penalties and administrative fines (§ 7-1 and § 7-2) apply only to violations after the entry into force. For earlier violations, the two older Acts apply as they read at the time.

The sections referred to give an indication of why the line is drawn where it is. The sanctions in § 3-46 concern the service provider's (tjenesteyter) breach, which can lead to cancellation of the contract (heving) and compensation (erstatning). § 4-30 sets out excesses (egenandeler) and liability for losses from unauthorised payment transactions. § 4-44 among other things sets a limit of three months on the notice period for consumers (forbrukere) with an account with a lock-in period. § 5-12 gives consumers the right to convert foreign currency loans into another currency.

This section sits together with § 8-1 on when the Act enters into force, and § 8-3 on amendments to other Acts.

Example: A foreign currency loan was agreed before the Act entered into force. The rules on foreign currency loans do not apply to that loan. If the credit amount is increased after the entry into force, the rules nevertheless apply.

Related sections
All sections of the Financial Contracts Act →