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World Bank Increases Transparency June 1st, 2012
The Jubilee USA Network, of which the Missionary Oblates is a member, commends the World Bank for promoting an anti-corruption and anti-fraud position.
WASHINGTON, DC – The World Bank made an important move to promote transparency as they released this week’s sanctions board decisions on fraud, corruption and collusion cases. Jubilee USA commends the World Bank’s policy change to publicly disclose why they decide to sanction companies and individuals for corruption and fraud.
“This is a great move by the World Bank and everyone wins with this decision,” noted Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network. “NGOs, businesses and governments can now better monitor patterns of fraud and corruption. Most importantly, the poor will benefit as this reporting further helps curb this behavior and ensures that resources are not stolen from the developing world.”
The sanctions board is an independent tribunal led by mainly external members and acts as the final decision-maker in all contested cases of World Bank funded projects. Historically, the World Bank only disclosed summaries of past board decisions but this new change in policy will give an in-depth review of every appeal and the logic behind deciding where misconduct occurred and what sanctions should be administered.
Corporate Social Responsibility and the Churches May 14th, 2012
Thanks to the European Africa Faith & Justice Network for the following information:
Bishops call for increased corporate transparency
Catholic bishops urge the European Union to legislate on extractive companies
While a group of EU member states, including Germany and the UK, are attempting to water down new EU transparency legislation, Catholic bishops from around the world urge the EU to push forward and require European Union-listed and large unlisted extractive companies to publicly disclose the payments they make to governments worldwide. In a joint statement, they say less stringent laws will fail to turn the curse of resource-rich developing countries into a blessing.
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House Legislation Introduced to Shed Light on America’s Anonymous Corporations November 16th, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch introduced earlier this week, the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which would require corporations to provide information about who owns or controls the corporation and benefits from its existence.
This bill, H.R. 3416, is supported by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) coalition, which includes a broad range of organizations with an interest in seeing the American trade in “anonymous corporations” closed down due to its negative impact on small businesses, human rights, corruption, national security, jobs and critical programs. The JPIC Ministry of the Missionary Oblates is a member of the coalition and is very supportive of this move to generate greater transparency in corporate ownership and activity.
“This legislation is crucial in the fight against corruption and organized crime,” said Stefanie Ostfeld, Global Witness Policy Advisor. “Swift passage of this bill will stop dictators, terrorists and drug traffickers from being able to legally hide their identities, and therefore their dirty money, behind anonymous American shell companies.”
The bill complements bipartisan Senate legislation, S. 1483, introduced in August by Senators Carl Levin and Chuck Grassley.
“Jubilee USA is thrilled to see the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act moving forward in the House and applauds Representatives Maloney, Frank and Lynch for introduction. This Act takes important steps in halting the flow of illicit streams of revenue out of developing nations and away from those who need it the most- the world’s poorest. Morality must be brought back into the global financial system, and the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Act is one important measure in that goal,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 religious denominations, faith- based communities, human rights agencies and community organizations that work on matters concerning global economic justice.
The bill will move to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Fr. Seamus Finn Speaks on Need for Greater Corporate Transparency at Yale Conference December 14th, 2010
- Theodore Dwight Woolsey and Dwight Hall, Yale University
On December 7th and 8th The Global Financial Integrity Project convened a conference entitled “Socially Responsible Investing and Corporate Financial Reporting: The Need for Transparency” at Yale University. Fr. Seamus Finn from the OMI JPIC office participated and presented a paper on the work of the office in promoting greater transparency by corporations on tax and tariff payments made in different jurisdictions. His paper also discussed the efforts of faith communities to ensure that the US Congress adopts greater transparency standards for the financial industry.
A Big Victory for Congo and Extractive Industries Transparency in the US Financial Reform Bill July 16th, 2010
On July 15, the United States Senate voted 60-39 to approve the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law next week. While the text of the financial reform act fills more than 2,300 pages, the many rules and regulations needed to implement it have not yet been written. This work by U.S. regulators is expected to take months, possibly years.
The legislation included an important provision requiring energy and mining companies to disclose how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S. government for oil, gas, and minerals. The provision, based on the Energy Security through Transparency Act (S. 1700), will require companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose payments to foreign governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals. This disclosure will apply to all companies filing with the SEC, regardless of where they are based, meaning that most of the world’s top extractive industries would be covered by this law.
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