“United States: Don’t Cancel Oil Transparency Rule. Congressional Resolution Would Help Shield Corruption”, 30 January 2017

Republicans introduced joint resolutions in the US Senate and House of Representatives today that would gut efforts to carry out a key law for fighting corruption in resource-rich countries…The House…is expected to vote on the measure as soon as…February 1…The Cardin-Lugar Transparency Rule requires US-listed oil, gas and mining companies to publicly disclose what they pay governments for natural resources production in those countries. It represents the culmination of a…years-long rulemaking process to carry out the anti-corruption provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Its repeal would for all practical purposes gut that section of the law. The proposed resolution would nullify the rule by using the Congressional Review Act…Governments in many countries have misused natural resource revenues, contributing to massive corruption, conflict, and human rights abuses. The rule…was meant to inject transparency into the system by ensuring that companies disclose what they pay governments…