Financial Transparency Coalition

BRUSSELS - Transparency International EU warmly welcomes the agreement secured today on new rules for the EU extractive sector that requires oil, gas, mining and logging companies to disclose what they pay to governments around the world. The deal reached by negotiators from the European Parliament and the Irish EU Presidency means that companies will have to disclose details of tax, bonus and other payments made for every project they operate, over a threshold of €100,000. The rules apply to all listed and large unlisted companies registered in the EU without exemption.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) secured a big step towards the financial transparency needed to combat tax dodging last week when they made EU Finance Ministers agree on country-by-country reporting for EU banks from 2014. This represents a major victory after years of campaigning by Eurodad members and allies. The deal under the EU’s Capital Requirement Directive is timely and it can – and should – influence the final agreement on the Accounting Directive, where country-by-country reporting is still on the table.

WASHINGTON, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) praised European Union leaders today for their commitment to requiring banks to disclose profits-made, taxes-paid, subsidiaries, and staff levels on a country-by-country basis, and the Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization called upon the United States to follow Europe’s lead and adopt similar rules.

BRUSSELS / LONDON - The European Commission’s new draft legislation for how to crack down on financial crime, published today, misses an opportunity to make it much harder for tax evaders, mobsters, arms dealers and corrupt politicians to use Europe’s financial system to launder their dirty money.