Financial Transparency Coalition

Assistant Administrator Eric Postel of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supporting Section 1504, or the Cardin-Lugar provision, of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. The "Publish What You Pay" provision, which has been significantly delayed, requires energy and mining companies registered with the SEC to report payments to foreign governments for the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals on a country-by-country basis.  Commenting on the positive effects of country-by-country reporting, Postel writes:

“Our overarching belief is that the enforcement of the proposed rules contributes towards U.S. Government...

Yesterday, Monique Perry Danziger, Communications Director at Global Financial Integrity, had an op-ed featured in The Hill. Writing on the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, she covers both the importance of the SEC producing guidelines for the country-by-country reporting elements of the legislation (Section 1504), and the need to expand financial transparency through approval of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Section 1504 of the Act requires oil, gas, and mineral producers who report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose any payments made to foreign governments in the process of developing and extracting materials. Section 1504, or the Cardin-Lugar amendment as it is known, promotes much-needed transparency in the extractive industries sector. It represents the first time a country-by-country reporting policy has been introduced into US law, albeit on a limited scale. The cost of corruption in the extractive...