Letter to The Scotsman: Revenue disclosure

The leadership by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, of a worldwide initiative to improve transparency of revenue payments by oil, gas and mining companies to governments is to be welcomed. The government is right to recognise that accountability for revenue flows is central to poverty reduction in resource-rich developing countries.

As a member of the “Publish what you pay” coalition, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, of which I am chief executive, is pleased to be a signatory to the joint statement on transparency of payments initiative for the extractives industry.

We are committed to working with the other signatories to deliver public disclosure of revenue information, and to promote democratic debate over the management of resource revenues. Experience shows that voluntary solutions to the problem of revenue transparency will fail: BP’s attempt at voluntary transparency in Angola was immediately doomed by vested interests there threatening retaliation.

Consequently, we believe that a regulatory framework must be put in place. Natural resources companies should be required by rules for listing regulated markets, such as the London Stock Exchange, to disclose revenue payments to national governments. The existing additional rules for natural resources companies in chapter 19 of the UK listing rules offer an obvious location for such a requirement.

SCIAF urges the government to consider this proposal with the UK listing authority, and to press for the inclusion of a requirement for disclosure of revenue payments in European securities law.

PAUL CHITNIS
Park Circus
Glasgow