On Feb. 14, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a joint resolution of Congress to repeal a critical anti-corruption rule for oil, gas and mining companies. The law was introduced by the House on Jan. 30, 2017. It quickly moved to the Senate, where it was passed with the support of the Republicans and opposition of the Democrats.
The rule is referred to as the “Cardin-Lugar regulations” and was enacted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in accordance with the Cardin-Lugar amendment of 2010. The amendment – prompted by the 2008 financial crisis and high prevalence of corruption in developing countries – directed the SEC to issue a rule requiring oil, gas and mining companies listed on a U.S. stock exchange to disclose how much they paid to hosting foreign governments, above a certain threshold. The purpose of this amendment was to curb bribery and otherwise illicit payments made to governments in return for specific natural resource extraction projects.
The rule itself took a decade to finalize, and, up until the U.S. government’s recent decision to overturn it, was set to take effect next year. As the rule stood, it would require U.S.-listed mining companies to file an annual report with the SEC outlining the type and total amount of payments made to foreign governments and the U.S. federal government with respect to extractive projects.
With the decision to repeal the SEC’s rule, there is therefore no indication that U.S.-listed companies will be subject to a reporting regime in the near future. That is, until the SEC creates a new rule.
Continue reading at The Northern Miner.
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