Financial Transparency Coalition

Senator Lugar (R.-IN) helped insert Section 1504, a provision requires oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose all payments to governments in each jurisdiction in which they operate, into the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He delivered the keynote speech at Georgetown University for the annual USAID conference, "Frontiers of Development," this week.

A new transparency law is being debated by the European Union that would require oil, gas, mining and forestry companies to make publish all payments they make to governments anywhere in the world. A similar provision exists in Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform bill in the United States. Such a law would eliminate much of the opacity that exists in developing countries currently by allowing individuals to see how much money their governments are getting from extractive industries deals, and hold them accountable for it. Lobbyists for many of the extractive companies are working to dilute...

In my short time here with the Task Force, I've learned that shell corporations show up around every corner when trying to fix problems in the developed and developing world alike. This was proven true again last night, when I attended an event sponsored by Task Force member Global Witness. The event was to present their new report, Dealing With Disclosure: Improving Transparency in Decision-Making Over Large-Sale Land Acquisitions, Allocations, and Investments.

LONDON - Ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee, Global Witness staged a parade of “dictators” in protest at plans to water down upcoming European laws to make oil, mining and timber companies more transparent about the billions of dollars that they pay in revenues to countries around the world. Time and time again Global Witness has highlighted how opaque money flows get squandered and embezzled, leaving ordinary citizens mired in poverty.