ESTMA Compliance – Will You Be Ready When The Time Comes?

The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA) has been in force since June 1, 2015.  Entities that are listed on a Canadian exchange or meet certain size requirements and are engaged in the commercial development of oil, gas and minerals are required by ESTMA to file an annual report disclosing certain cash and in kind payments made by them to domestic and foreign governments.  Reports required under ESTMA must be filed within 150 days of the entity’s financial year end, and must be accompanied by an attestation by an officer or director of the reporting entity.

Under ESTMA, every relevant payment in each payment category must be collected and aggregated to determine whether the $100,000 reporting threshold by category and payee has been reached or exceeded. ESTMA broadly defines an “entity” as including corporations, trusts, partnerships and joint associations, and contains rules which attribute payments made by subsidiaries to the ESTMA reporting entity