The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27 approved a rule requiring oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments, capping a process stalled in the courts for years.
The rule would require the companies to state publicly how much they pay governments in taxes, royalties and other types of fees for exploration, extraction and other activities.
It will "provide enhanced transparency," SEC Chair Mary Jo White said in a statement.
Frustrated with delays, human rights group Oxfam in 2014 sued the SEC over the rule, which was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Law passed four years earlier. In September, a federal judge ordered the commission to fast-track the rule, and regulators released a draft in December.
Under the final rules, "resource extraction" companies must disclose payments that are made to further the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals that total more than $100,000 during a single fiscal year for each project. Those payments can include taxes, royalties, fees, bonuses, dividends and social responsibility payments.
The rule exempts a company from reporting payment information for a firm it has acquired in the first year after the acquisition, and also allows companies to delay disclosure for a year on payments related to exploration.
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