Skip to main content
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Search

Natural Resource Governance Institute

  • Topics
    Beneficial ownership
    Economic diversification
    Mandatory payment disclosure
    Revenue sharing
    Civic space
    Energy transition
    Measurement of environmental and social impacts
    Sovereign wealth funds
    Commodity prices
    Gender
    Measurement of governance
    State-owned enterprises
    Contract transparency and monitoring
    Global initiatives
    Open data
    Subnational governance
    Coronavirus
    Legislation and regulation
    Revenue management
    Tax policy and revenue collection
    Corruption
    Licensing and negotiation
  • Approach
    • Stakeholders
      • Civil society actors
      • Government officials
      • Journalists and media
      • Parliaments and political parties
      • Private sector
    • Natural Resource Charter
    • Regional knowledge hubs
  • Countries
    NRGI Priority Countries
    Colombia
    Guinea
    Nigeria
    Tanzania
    Dem. Rep. of Congo
    Mexico
    Peru
    Tunisia
    Ghana
    Mongolia
    Senegal
    Uganda
    OTHER COUNTRIES
  • Learning
    • Training
      • Residential training courses
        • Executive
        • Anglophone Africa
        • Francophone Africa
        • Asia-Pacific
        • Eurasia
        • Latin America
        • Middle East and North Africa
      • Online training courses
        • Advanced
        • Negotiating Contracts
        • Massive open online course (MOOC)
        • Interactive course: Petronia
      • Trainers' modules
        • (empty)
    • Primers
    • Glossary
  • Analysis & Tools
    • Publications
    • Tools
    • Economic models
  • About Us
    • What we do
      • 2020-2025 Strategy
      • Country prioritization
    • NRGI impact
    • Board of Directors
    • Emeritus Board Members
    • Advisory Council
    • Leadership team
    • Experts and staff
    • Careers and opportunities
    • Grant-making
    • Financials
    • Privacy policy
    • Contact us
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog

You are here

  1. Home
  2. News

U.S. Congress Kills Critical Transparency Rule, Abandons Leadership on Anticorruption

Press Release
3 February 2017
Topics
CorruptionMandatory payment disclosure
Countries
United States
Stakeholders
Government officialsPrivate sector
Social Sharing
3 February 2017, NEW YORK—A flagship U.S. anticorruption rule has been nullified by the country’s Congress. Today the U.S. Senate used the Congressional Review Act to eliminate a June 2016 Securities and Exchange Commission rule implementing the bipartisan Cardin-Lugar extractive industries payment transparency provision. This followed a similar vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday and the White House has indicated that President Donald J. Trump will sign the resolution into law.
 
Daniel Kaufmann, president and CEO of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), said: “We are very disappointed that the rule implementing this trailblazing U.S. law, which deters corruption and improves governance in the notoriously opaque natural resource sector, has been gutted. Following a campaign of misinformation by the American Petroleum Institute and backers such as ExxonMobil, Republican lawmakers have shown themselves to be pro-corruption and have demolished U.S. leadership in this area.”
 
The U.S. law, passed in 2010 but only implemented last year after legal delays, was the first of its kind and has been replicated by 30 other countries, including Canada and many in Europe. Such laws have equipped citizens in resource-rich nations to fight corruption and hold their own governments to account for the management of revenues from the sector. Investors with trillions of dollars under management also support these laws as a means to manage risk in the volatile commodities sector.
 
On the Senate floor, numerous Democrats spoke passionately in defense of the SEC regulations. These included Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) (the original sponsor of the provision along with retired Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)), and Senator Patrick Leahy. Republicans said little on the subject before they voted against the SEC rule.
 
Major industry players like BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, as well as Russian state-owned companies like Gazprom and Rosneft have begun reporting in Canada, France, Norway and the U.K. Companies have disclosed payments of over $150 billion to governments of over 100 countries to date.
 
“Despite this setback, the transparency train has left the station,” said Kaufmann. “Some of the dinosaurs of the industry are still clinging to opacity but we are encouraged by company reporting through laws in other countries around the world and we will continue to press the U.S. government to put effective transparency rules in place.”
 
For more information contact:
 
Lee Bailey
Communications Director
Natural Resource Governance Institute
[email protected]
T +44 (0)20 7332 6114
M +44 (0)7823 442 954 
 
Joseph Williams
Senior Advocacy Officer
Natural Resource Governance Institute
[email protected]
T +44 (0)20 7332 6113
M +44 (0)77 7575 1170  

Related content

At International Anti-Corruption Conference, Calls for Sustained—and Heightened—Vigilance

Max George-Wagner
16 December 2016

Statement on U.S. Government Withdrawal from EITI

3 November 2017

Financial Times Op-ed: 'U.S. Credibility Suffers in Exit from Extractives Transparency Pact'

9 November 2017

NRGI’s Top 10 Blog Posts in 2016

13 December 2016

May 2015 Letter from the President

14 May 2015
Helping people to realize the benefits of their countries’ endowments of oil, gas and minerals.
Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Subscribe to Updates
  • Topics
    Beneficial ownership
    Civic space
    Commodity prices
    Contract transparency and monitoring
    Coronavirus
    Corruption
    Economic diversification
    Energy transition
    Gender
    Global initiatives
    Legislation and regulation
    Licensing and negotiation
    Mandatory payment disclosure
    Measurement of environmental and social impacts
    Measurement of governance
    Open data
    Revenue management
    Revenue sharing
    Sovereign wealth funds
    State-owned enterprises
    Subnational governance
    Tax policy and revenue collection
  • Approach
    • Stakeholders
    • Natural Resource Charter
    • Regional knowledge hubs
  • Priority
    Countries
    • Colombia
    • Dem. Rep. of Congo
    • Ghana
    • Guinea
    • Mexico
    • Mongolia
    • Nigeria
    • Peru
    • Senegal
    • Tanzania
    • Tunisia
    • Uganda
  • Learning
    • Training
    • Primers
  • Analysis & Tools
    • Publications
    • Tools
    • Economic models
  • About Us
    • What we do
    • NRGI impact
    • Board of Directors
    • Emeritus Board Members
    • Advisory Council
    • Leadership team
    • Experts and staff
    • Careers and opportunities
    • Grant-making
    • Financials
    • Privacy policy
    • Contact us
  • News
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Search