EITI is launching a program to promote transparency of beneficial ownership
Kaieteur News – The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and Open Ownership, Opening Extractives’ global not-for-profit organization, recently launched a global program to promote beneficial ownership transparency. It aims to make a dramatic and sustainable difference to the level of publicly available information about the individuals who own and manage extractive companies.
The project will be partly funded by the BHP Foundation, a leading global resources company, and delivered by the EITI International Secretariat and Open Ownership.
According to a statement on the launch of the EITI, of which Guyana is a member, anonymous companies continue to be a major obstacle in the fight against money laundering and corruption. He reminded the global body that these anonymous companies enable corrupt and criminal actors, often with close political affiliations, to hide behind chains of companies registered in several jurisdictions.
The EITI went on to point out that a recent study using data from Colombia highlighted the value of this data, while weighing up that publishing company ownership details enables effective taxation and brings data to the fore. it can be used to identify and tackle corruption. He added that it could help build fairer markets, encourage responsible investment and manage business risk.
“Opening Extractives will ultimately improve the quality of life for millions of people in resource-rich countries,” said James Ensor, CEO and President of the BHP Foundation. “Ultimately, natural resources are owned by the citizens of every country in which the resource industry operates. Transparency of beneficial ownership is essential to ensure that the revenues generated by the natural resources industry provide maximum benefit to each individual citizen. But to be successful it requires governments, industry and civil society to work together – which is why this initiative is so important. “
Thom Townsend, Executive Director of Open Ownership, said: “We are at a tipping point to move from commitments to implementing beneficial ownership transparency, and Opening Extractives will accelerate progress. Anonymous companies are the getaway vehicle of choice for stolen public funds, and the transparency of beneficial ownership is the most effective way to close this. The Luanda Leaks were a powerful reminder of how some resource-rich countries have suffered and how public information can stop corrupt activity. ”
“I am confident that this unique partnership is a recipe for a step change in natural resource governance,” said Mark Robinson, Executive Director of EITI. “The project will seek to stimulate political and stakeholder engagement and build the technical capability required to publish and use complex data. It has the potential to scale beyond the extractive sector and beyond the programme’s initial focus group of countries. ”
This project comes at a time when the transparency advocates are calling for greater transparency in the award of two of Guyana’s lucrative oil blocks. These blocks, the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, were awarded an untested reserve of 12.11 billion barrels of oil, under less than transparent terms.
Notably, two of the owners of the two blocks, JHI Associates and Ratio Petroleum, are incorporated into secrecy jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar, a British foreign territory.