US: companies forced to ‘open up the books’
This week’s historic announcement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)implementing Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Act is of huge importance for women and men in developing countries. After tireless campaigning, some of the world’s poorest people will now find out what US-listed oil, gas and mining companies pay for the resources they extract from their land.
Find out more about our campaign to ‘Open up the books’>>
Key elements in the rules adopted by the SEC on Wednesday require US-listed oil, gas and mining companies to report their payments to governments on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis. There will be no reporting exemptions of any kind, and disclosure applies to all payments over US $100,000. This is great news for our campaign to shape EU laws as well. And it means that governments around the world are starting to sit up and listen to calls for justice for the world’s poorest communities.
Timing critical
The timing of the SEC’s rules is critical because the European Union is in the final stages of agreeing similar legislation to require oil, gas and mining companies listed on European stock exchanges to open up their books as well.
CAFOD’s Private Sector analyst Anne Lindsay said: “This is a breakthrough for people living in poverty in countries which are rich in oil, gas and minerals. The rules specifically recognise that companies need to publish what they pay in each country and for each project. What is more, many of the arguments that big business has used in the UK and Brussels to resist these changes have been examined by the SEC and found wanting. We must no longer allow industry pressure to stop communities getting the project-level information they deserve about how their natural resources are being bought and sold.”
“MEPs and EU Member States must now build on the US announcement with a strong Directive which will reduce the risk of corruption in countries rich in oil and minerals.”
History of the campaign
Together, we have been playing our part through the ‘Open up the books’ campaign launched in March last year. And we have seen a remarkable series of successes with the other members of the international Publish What You Pay coalition. After we called on the government to champion country-by-country reporting last year, the Prime Minister responded in July 2011 by endorsing our call for the EU to ask extractives companies to publish what they pay for the minerals they take.
In February 2012, we came together to urge UK government ministers to close the loopholes in the proposed EU legislation. Then, in a tour of Europe this summer, Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi lent her support to calls for businesses to open up their books.
Through ‘Open Up the Books’, CAFOD supporters have joined Bishops in resource-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Colombia and Chad as well as prominent MEPs in calling for a strong EU Directive without loopholes. As part of the global Publish What You Pay campaign there have been over 140,000 actions taken on this issue worldwide.
It’s because of your tireless work and desire for justice that global campaigns are a success. Thank you.
During the critical coming months, we will keep you updated on the progress of the new EU transparency laws, which could benefit millions of the world’s poorest people.
Further information
