A proposal for new ethics rules for Norway’s $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund was published by a government-appointed expert committee, including allowing investments in some nuclear stocks and raising the bar on divesting from companies.

The ethics guidelines of the fund, often seen as the gold standard for responsible investors, became the focus of intense controversy last year, after its divestment policy led to tensions with the Trump administration. As part of the review of those rules, the Nordic nation shelved the role of the independent Council on Ethics advising on such exclusions.

The committee, chaired by former central bank Governor Svein Gjedrem, on Thursday proposed reinstating ethics tools that were paused in November.

The fund should “avoid investments in companies where there is an unacceptable risk that they contribute to, or are themselves responsible for, gross norm violations,” it said, adding that such a criterion would set a high threshold to excluding any companies from the fund.

Primarily, the fund should first seek to influence the companies through its ownership activities — dialogue with management and voting at shareholder meetings, the committee said. If that proves ineffective, the fund “should no longer be invested in the company, unless excluding the company could limit the fund’s ability to remain a broadly diversified, global fund.”The committee also proposed curtailing the powers of the Council of Ethics, suggesting it should assess risk without making recommendations. Under the current, paused rules, the council makes recommendations on the exclusion or observation of companies. The committee also put forward discontinuing the option of placing companies under observation.

Another key proposal includes allowing certain investments in companies producing nuclear weapons, which have all up until now been out of bounds. According to the committee, the fund could invest in such companies domiciled “in a nuclear-weapon state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that is allied with Norway.”The change means that several US, French and UK weapons producers can be reincluded into the fund.

The fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management and built from the country’s oil and gas wealth, owns almost 1.5% of all public companies globally, meaning changes to its investment rules would have repercussions far beyond Norway. The portfolio also includes government and corporate bonds, unlisted real estate and renewable-energy infrastructure.

The recommendations will be sent out for public consultation, after which the government plans to present its proposal to parliament in a white paper next year. Key decisions governing the fund are anchored in parliament, while the Finance Ministry sets the investment framework and Norges Bank Investment Management carries out the day-to-day management.

“We will now thoroughly examine the committee’s recommendations and facilitate a broad debate,” Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Only once this process is complete, and both the report and the consultation responses have been carefully considered, will the government reach its conclusions.”