In an extraordinary call for more stringent regulation, a group of leading international investment institutions has urged tough new public disclosure rules for oil, gas and mining companies listed in Canada, even as it has warned against the US rolling back its own disclosure rules in this area. In separate letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Natural Resources Canada, the investors have urged the adoption of a consistent global standard for all significant tax and royalty payments made by extractive companies across their global operations.

The move reflects a growing global trend aimed at deterring corruption in resourcedependent countries, beginning with the passage in 2010 of tough extractive sector transparency provisions within the US Dodd Frank Act. This was followed by equivalent requirements in the EU's Transparency and Accounting Directives in June 2013, following which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans at the G8 Summit in June to follow suit with similar regulations for Canadian-listed extractive companies. However, a July ruling in a US District Court on a suit filed by the American Petroleum Institute threatens to set back this effort by seeking to block the US regulation, and raises uncertainty for companies and investors operating internationally. Investors have therefore come together to highlight the importance of high standards of transparency as well as consistent global regulation.

"Putting these data in the public domain allows them
to be scrutinised by local citizens"

Jacob de Wit, Chief Executive Officer of SNS Asset Management

"We're not suggesting investors will necessarily crunch through each of these figures in order to decide what stocks to buy or sell", said Jacob de Wit, Chief Executive Officer of SNS Asset Management, the Dutch asset manager and one of the lead sponsors of this effort. "Rather, the point is that putting these data in the public domain allows them to be scrutinised by local citizens; this will lift the veil of secrecy that has enabled corruption to flourish for so long in the world's most resource-dependent nations - especially in the emerging economies where extractive companies develop some of their most attractive assets."

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