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On 1 February 2009 the International Budget Partnership released the Open Budget Index 2008, the only independent, comparative measure of government budget transparency in 85 countries around the world. For the first time, data is now available on how open and accountable such countries as China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Democratic Republic of Congo are to their publics.

Extracts of Briefing Paper for the Round Table hosted by the IASB extractive activities research project team and the Revenue Watch Institute – London, 15th September, 2008

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In the 2008 Report on Revenue Transparency of Oil and Gas Companies, Transparency International (TI) evaluates 42 leading oil and gas companies on their current policies, management systems and performance in areas relevant to revenue transparency in their upstream operations.

Shell and BP challenged on Proposed EU Disclosure Rules

Speaking after today’s public hearing in the European Parliament in which BP and Shell were held to account for the failure by oil companies to give full disclosure of payments to governments accused of corruption and fuelling civil war in the Third World, Richard Howitt MEP, the European Parliament’s Spokesperson on Corporate Social Responsibility, said, “The overwhelming support for mandatory disclosure from MEPs today, sends a clear political signal that a decision for companies to be forced to act on transparency of payments is on

Oil and gas companies have generated enormous wealth. But rather than improving the lives of ordinary people, these revenues have often fuelled wars and corruption, weakened economic development and worsened poverty.

London – International financier and philanthropist George Soros launched a call to governments across the globe for transnational resource extraction companies to ‘Publish What You Pay.’ Mr. Soros has teamed up with a coalition of over 30 NGOs to insist that oil, gas and mining companies must publish net taxes, fees, royalties and other payments as a condition for being listed on international stock exchanges and financial markets.

Today British Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce an international initiative aimed at preventing mismanagement of revenues paid to developing countries by oil, gas and mining companies.

Tomorrow (17 June) UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will unveil a British-led action plan to improve
the transparency of oil, mining and gas revenues worldwide.

On the day Tony Blair addresses a high-level international meeting in London focusing on improving
transparency in oil industry operations a CAFOD partner releases a report urging critical changes in the
way oil is being developed in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Bottom of the Barrel” the report by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) argues that politicians,
policymakers, international financial institutions, like the IMF and World Bank, and the oil companies
themselves have a unique opportunity to lift the curse of poverty and despotism tied to oil development in many African countries and elsew