Cambodian Transparency Organization Applauds US Rule On Oil, Gas and Mining Payments Disclosure

Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency (CRRT) wrote a letter to Ms. Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, 2012 to back up PWYP’s recommendations and to encourage the Commission to define the “Project” in relation to each lease, license and/or other concession level arrangement entered into by a resource extraction issuer. CRRT also requested that rule should not allow companies to receive exemptions from compliance with the law as a result of host country secrecy laws, as this would simply encourage governments to create new laws restricting transparency. Today, a Cambodian transparency advocacy group welcomed a rule approved in the United States on Wednesday August 22nd by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which will require oil, gas and mining companies to report payments made to the US government or foreign governments. … The SEC  ruling specifically references reporting rules contained in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the voluntary global extractive industry organization formed in 2002. (…) Cambodia has thus far declined to join the EITI, which helps improve a country’s investment potential by establishing clear and consistent reporting requirements. …