The SEC rule that would have required oil
and gas and mining companies to disclose each year their payments
to foreign governments was intended to increase transparency and
prevent back-handers, bungs, and bribes from reaching those able to
influence contractual decisions.
Sadly, it is the local populace that often loses out as a
consequence.
The White House said the rule, which was slated to be
effective next year, would have imposed "unreasonable
compliance costs on American energy companies" and
"placed them at risk of losing out to foreign
competition."
But if the additional costs of compliance to a multi-national,
multi-billion dollar company would have been negligible, as appears
likely, what was the real concern? Was it that American energy
companies could lose out to corrupt competitors by effectively
having their hands tie? After all, the policy underlying the rule
was to try and prevent corruption.
