Media release: Switzerland passes mandatory disclosure laws
A few weeks ago, the Swiss parliament passed a new law requiring Swiss extractive companies to disclose the payments (taxes, royalties, fees, bonuses, etc) they make to governments around the world. Similar to global transparency laws in place in the UK, Canada, the EU and Norway, these law covers payments made for the right to explore for, and extract oil, gas and minerals. The US is awaiting implementation of similar laws.
“The announcement of these laws further highlights Australia’s need to pass equivalent legislation to those already in place in 31 countries with comparable economies” said Clancy Moore, National Director of Publish What You Pay Australia. “Whilst a leader in industry and a generous supporter of extractive industry transparency initiatives through our aid program, Australia is an outlier in global transparency standards” Moore added.
Mandatory disclosure laws are designed to help citizens in demanding that their governments use public funds to fight poverty and contribute to sustained economic growth, rather than lose crucial revenues to corruption or mismanagement. Investors also use the disclosures to manage risk. The OECD has identified the extractive sector as the world’s most corrupt economic sector and Publish What You Pay research shows Australia has over 700 ASX listed extractive companies operating in 106 countries globally. This includes many resource rich nations in the Asia Pacific with significant corruption risks including PNG, Myanmar and Indonesia. According to leading policy think tank NRGI, these laws have led to the disclosure of over USD 900 billion in taxes, royalties and other payments made to governments worldwide since 2015.
Swiss companies will have a two year period to includes an important clause which would enable the new transparency provisions to comply with the law and will be required to report annually. Further the law also have provisions to apply the transparency requirements to Swiss commodity traders buying oil, gas and minerals abroad. This is a significant development as Switzerland is a major trading hub.
More information contact clancy.moore@actionaid.org