Canada To Establish Mandatory Reporting Standards For Extractive Industry

In the face of growing global pressure for greater corporate transparency, the Government of Canada announced today that it will establish new mandatory reporting standards for Canadian extractive companies to improve transparency of the payments they make to governments worldwide. The new reporting regime will be established with a view to ensuring that Canada's reporting framework is consistent with existing international standards and aligned with other G-8 countries.

A number of jurisdictions have already moved to mandatory disclosure of payments to governments. In August, 2012, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new reporting rules under the Dodd-Frank Act that require publicly listed oil, gas and mining companies to file an annual report disclosing payments to governments (e.g., taxes, royalties, licence fees, payments for infrastructure, etc.) on a project-by-project basis. The European Parliament approved today similar transparency rules.