March 25th, 2011
It’s an interesting moment of flux for Task Force issues, especially if you’re sitting in London. On the one hand, you can see a key piece of UK legislation on financial integrity at serious risk; on the other hand, you can see the potential for a powerful step forward at the European level. Both are still in the balance, so if you’ve got any political pull at all – now’s the time to choose.
The nature of both discussions points to a broader point, however, which is this: national- or regional-level responses to financial integrity issues will always risk a...
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March 16th, 2011
Last week, the European ministers made a call to establish a
country-by-country reporting standard for multinational companies in the extractive sector – a much needed first step to curb tax evasion and avoidance in poor countries. This decision follows groundbreaking reports by the European Parliament to enhance global tax policies which would allow mobilising further development finance to meet internationally agreed development goals.
This is a partial victory for civil society organisations in Europe who have been strongly advocating for specific policy reforms to make global tax policies work for the poor.
European ministers take first steps to curb tax...March 11th, 2011
The
European Council of Ministers held its 3074th Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) Council meeting in Brussels on 10 March 2011. As a result it:
Invited the Commission to come forward with initiatives, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, on the disclosure of financial information by companies working in the extractive industry, including the possible adoption of a country-by-country reporting requirement, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the extractive industry, and the monitoring of third-country legislation;
It’s a shame the move is not as yet towards
full country-by-country reporting.March 8th, 2011
Last July, the
Dodd-Frank act provided in its section 1504 that all companies operating in the extractive industries that must report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would have to publish all payments they make to the U.S. government or any foreign government on a project basis. Since then, the French and British governments have supported similar EU legislation. Many international companies worldwide, and not only the U.S. companies, will be covered by the upcoming SEC regulations which implement section 1504.
The argument against such a provision—being a threat to competitiveness—was utilized widely even before Dodd-Frank was...
