Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON DC - Global Financial Integrity (GFI) applauded the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today for denying the request (PDF) of industry groups to stay key oil, gas, and mining transparency rules pending a lawsuit.

The resource curse has long been a problem for Africa. The continent’s economies have remained stagnant and hollow for nearly 60 years while a succession of autocrats and their clients have become fabulously wealthy. With huge natural gas discoveries off of the Mozambican coast, vast newfound oil reserves in the Great Lakes region and more than $1 trillion worth of minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is vast potential for another wasted generation.

WASHINGTON, DC – More than two years after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today voted to adopt implementing rules for Section 1504 of the legislation, which requires companies operating in the oil, gas, and mining sectors to publicly report on the payments they make to foreign governments. The release of the rules enables Section 1504 to finally take effect, and the effected companies will shortly need to begin reporting as required by law.

Today, at the United Nations in New York City, President Obama inaugurated the Open Government Partnership (OGP) with Brazil, the co-chair. The OGP is a global effort to improve governance worldwide through transparency and accountability—two principals that many members of this Task Force have argued for persuasively for many years. To become a member of OGP, countries must adopt an Open Government Declaration, deliver a country action plan, and commit to independent reporting. As of today, eight countries have joined the OGP: Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, and—the relentless crusader for anticorruption and better...