Norway Drops Transocean Tax Charges

Norwegian police said on Thursday they have dropped a planned appeal in a decade-long tax fraud case against Swiss-based offshore drilling firm Transocean , declaring that the company and its advisers are now considered innocent.

The decision followed the replacement last week of the lead prosecutor in the case.

Transocean and three individuals were acquitted by Oslo's district court in July 2014, and the prosecution's demand for 1.8 billion Norwegian crowns ($204 million) in damages was dismissed.

The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime had planned to appeal the acquittal of Transocean Inc and unit Transocean Deepwater Drilling Company, as well as the acquittal of two of the company's three advisers.

The Norwegian police unit launched its investigation into the transactions in 2005.

Reporting by Terje Solsvik