September 9, 2011
*Wednesday 21st september 9.30am - 12.00pm*
The House of Litterature, Oslo, Wergelandsveien 29
Coffee/tea will be served from 9.30am
*About the report*:
-We have examined 10 of the world´s largest international extractive companies
-We have mapped these companies number of subsidiaries
-We have mapped where the subsidiaries are incorporated
-We have mapped the number of subsidiaries located in tax havens
-We have mapped preferences related to tax havens
-We have confirmed how difficult it is to get information, both in the North and in the South
-We have created a database where we have plotted these findings, which we will make available on our web page
-We show the companies´ reported revenues, their reported costs, their reported total tax on income and their reported net profits.
The front page illustration is drawn by KAL, the eminent Economist illustrator.
*About the programme*: (More information may be added)
*Part 1: 10am-11am*
Introductory speakers:
-State Secretary Roger Schjerva, Ministry of Finance
-Jose Correia Nunes, Head of Division, DEVCO, EU commission (not able to attend)
-Nick Mathiason, business journalist, previously the Guardian and the Observer
-Christian Zurita, Diario El Universo, Ecuador
-Marco Escalera, SOMOS SUR, Bolivia
*Part 2: 11am-12pm*
Panel debate in Norwegian with Norwegian experts.
Debate leader: Kjetil Wiedswang, Dagens Næringsliv
Panelists include:
-State Secretary Roger Schjerva, Ministry of Finance,
-Håvard Holterud, Department Director, Skatteøkonomisk avdeling, Oljeskattekontoret
-Frian Aarsnes, Chartered Accountant, EconPöyry
-Morten Eriksen, Member of "Kapitalfluktutvalget"
-Diderik Lund, professor, Institute of Economy, University of Oslo
The report is launched at a moment when politicians in the US and the EU work with introducing a new country by country reporting standard which will force companies to publish detaild information about revenues, profits, taxes and reserves for each country they operate in.
The term "country by country reporting" is applied as a denominator for a duty to include operational, country specific information related to the companies´foreign extraction activities in their annual financial statements.
In July 2010 the US adopted a law requirering country by country reporting as a part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (”Dodd-Frank Act”). The American regulations will apply to companies within the extracive industries that are listed on American stock exchanges. It is expected that the American rules will apply to 90% of the world´s leading petroleum companies and 8 of the 10 largest mining companies.
Also in the EU there have been several initiatives promoting the introduction of country by country reporting, among these a hearing to gather viewpoints on the introduction of such a reporting standard. There is a lot that indicates that an EU regulation will take the US regulation as a point of departure, but also go beyond it.
Particularly the "oil lobby" has now mobilized forces to try to avoid this.
In the Norwegian Government´s action plan against financial crime, it is stated as an action point 46 that the Government shall consider if there are grounds for introducing country by country reporting, either as a part of the process of possible new EU rules in the area or independently. State secretary, Roger Schjerva "stated on April 4th":http://www.publishwhatyoupay.no/brief-summary-legal-report-launch-4th-april-country-country-reporting-extractive-companies that Norwegian authorities favour such regulations and are open to implement it even if the EU should decide not to.
Event organizers: Publish What You Pay Norway
The report is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (The Dialogue Project) and Norad.