June newsletter

Norms for beneficial ownership disclosure are changing

Our latest review highlights significant strides in beneficial ownership transparency worldwide. Almost two-thirds of countries have established the legal groundwork for mandatory disclosure of the real owners of extractive companies, which is essential for taking the next step towards the establishment of public registers.

Key findings:

• Disclosure: At least 38 (67%) EITI countries now disclose beneficial ownership information via EITI Reports or online platforms, up from 31 in 2019. Over half maintain a central or sector-specific register, but only a third are publicly accessible.
• Legal frameworks:?At least 33 (60%) countries have established legal frameworks for beneficial ownership disclosure, with another 13 (23%) developing draft frameworks.
• Politically exposed persons (PEPs): At least 44 (80%) countries have defined what constitutes a PEP, but only 32 (60%) include PEPs in their disclosure frameworks.
• Thresholds:?Fifty (90%) countries have defined ownership thresholds for reporting, with half setting their threshold at 10% or lower.

Energy transition: A new policy brief by Opening Extractives, a flagship programme implemented by the EITI and Open Ownership, provides strategies to enhance data availability on beneficial owners to promote accountable natural resource extraction through the energy transition.?

New database of state-owned enterprises

The EITI has launched a new database of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), featuring payment data from approximately 100 SOEs in EITI implementing countries.

Proceeds and profits: SOEs significantly contribute to government revenues by selling oil, gas, and minerals. In countries like Iraq, over 90% of state revenues come from SOE oil exports. Until now, accessing structured, annual data on SOE payments to governments and other disclosures reported through the EITI has been challenging.

New tool: The new database allows users to filter data by country, sector, and commodity, and includes preset queries tailored to their needs. It uses unique company identifiers for interoperability with international databases and other datasets. The project supports the EITI’s data strategy, aimed at enhancing data generation, access and use.

Germany pioneers new reporting methods

Germany achieved a high score (89 points) in implementing the EITI Standard, having strengthened disclosures on issues of public interest and introduced innovative methods to reporting.

Innovations: Germany EITI is pioneering a risk-based method that assesses systems for managing invoices, payments and licenses, moving away from traditional reconciliation of company payments and government receipts. Germany EITI also sets an example by publishing much of its data?online in open format, consolidating information across jurisdictions.

In other news

EITI community: The EITI Board convened in Geneva last week for its 60th EITI Board meeting, hosted by the Government of Switzerland.?Board members also did a deep dive on commodity trading transparency, taking stock of the context, progress, challenges for reporting on first trades.

Ahead of the meeting, coordinators of EITI national secretariats globally gathered to exchange good practices and common challenges. This meeting of implementing countries and National Coordinators was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs of Switzerland and the World Bank.

SOEs and trades: In the sidelines of the Geneva meetings, more than 40 representatives from SOEs, commodity traders and financial institutions came together to explore the power of EITI reporting and data in tackling corruption risks, boosting governance and making smarter investment decisions.

Corporate transparency: Nearly half of EITI supporting companies have taken steps to improve corporate transparency and accountability, with many endorsing beneficial ownership transparency and enhancing tax and payment disclosures in non-EITI countries.

Responsible supply chains: At our recent Transparency Matters event, representatives from Glencore, UNEP, the Global Battery Alliance and the Argentinian government shared diverse strategies and approaches on developing responsible supply chains. Here are the highlights.

Philippines: The Philippines has mostly met the EITI’s requirement on civil society engagement, showing improvements in civil society's involvement in EITI processes, though further work is needed at the subnational level.

Afghanistan: The EITI Board has delisted Afghanistan due to the inability to uphold key aspects of the EITI, including multi-stakeholder governance and data disclosure. The decision marks the country's departure as an EITI implementing country.

Mineral value chains: At the OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, we gathered five lessons on how renewable energy companies can address governance challenges during the energy transition.

IACC: We were at the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) last week to make the case for why government, civil society and companies need to collaborate to achieve transparent and accountable extractives governance and mitigate corruption as demand for minerals intensifies.

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