London, January 9:

The 500 companies listed on Norway’s stock exchange face being shut down unless they install women on their boards over the next two years in a radical initiative imposed by a government determined to help women break thr-ough the ‘glass ceiling’.

After a week in which the Equal Opportunities Commission in Britain has warned that it would take 40 years for women to break into the ranks of the FTSE 100 in the same way as men, Norwegian companies face a two-year deadline to ensure that women hold 40 per cent of the seats of each company listed on the Oslo bourse. New companies have to comply now wi-th the rules otherwise they will not be able to be created and the government is considering extending the law to family-owned companies as well.

The requirement came into effect at the start of this year.