Will the UK be the First EU Country to Comply with Extractive Industry Transparency Provisions?

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Blog recently reported on the UK government’s announcement of their draft legislation, “Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014.” Currently, all EU member states are required to put in place a similar law by July 20, 2015 and November 26, 2015. If UK’s legislation is adopted, they will be the first EU country to comply with the extractive industry transparency provisions that have been outlined by the EU Accounting Directive and Transparency Directive.

The FCPA outlines the legislations main initiatives and the effects on those companies who fail to meet the filing deadline: 

“The UK’s initiative represents an initial step toward a broader expansion of regulatory transparency requirements that we expect will, over the coming year, be imposed upon companies operating in the extractive and logging sectors.”

Affected companies should begin to familiarize themselves with the new legislation in order to put in place potentially required protocols. 

"Under the UK legislation, "payments” are broadly defined to include money or in kind contributions. The legislation would apply to “large undertakings” and “public interest entities” that extract oil or gas, engage in mining, quarry or logging activities. A company subject to the legislation must file reports with the Registrar of Companies within 11 months of the end of its financial year. Failing to meet the deadline could result in an unlimited fine for the company or imprisonment for directors who fail to take all reasonable steps to comply.”

Read the original FCPA Blog article here.

Similarly, publically traded companies in the US were faced to comply with the Dodd Frank Section 1502 Conflict Minerals Regulation in 2012. Dr. Chris Bayer, principal investigator for the Tulane University’s Conflict Minerals post-filing research, surveyed issuer companies to determine post-filing impacts of the Conflict Minerals Regulation. To get a deeper understanding of the after effects of Dodd Frank 1502  attend the Conflict Minerals Post Filing Insights interview with Triple Pundits founder, Nick Aster, hosted by Source Intelligence. Attend here.