The recent 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.
See http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=20942.
The CAFOD blog on the SEC rules on reporting for oil, gas and mining companies is at: http://cafodpolicy.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/watching-me-watching-you-what-europe-can-make-of-the-us-rules-on-extractive-industry-reporting/.
Publish What Youy Pay commented at http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/resources/pwyp-initial-response-us-sec-vote-dodd-frank-transparency-rules.
Richard Solly, Co-ordinator of London Mining Network, commented: “The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s insistence that mining, oil and gas companies publish payments to governments on a project-by-project basis is welcome, and we must hope that European Governments, including the UK, follow suit. But this is not all that is needed to bring justice to mining-affected communities. Many such communities want to say no to mining projects or to get just compensation for the destruction of their lands and livelihoods. Many mining companies, including companies listed on UK stock exchanges, behave appallingly, and there is a need for much stricter regulation across the board, as we pointed out in the report we published in March. Openness about tax and royalty payments would be welcome but it is only a small part of the picture.”
LMN’s report on the need for stricter oversight of UK-listed mining companies can be viewed at https://londonminingnetwork.org/docs/lmn-the-case-for-stricter-oversight.pdf.