Extractive companies will soon have to disclose their ownership details.
This has been made possible by the PNG Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s (PNGEITI) Beneficial Ownership Roadmap. It provides direction and outlines specific actions on how the country will report on Beneficial Ownership by 2020.
The Roadmap is consistent with the EITI Standard.
This was the message from the PNGEITI Head of National Secretariat, Lucas Alkan.
Transparency on company payments and government receipts is important for accountability, but tells citizens little about who owns extractive companies and ultimately benefits from the companies’ activities.
In many cases, the identity of real owners of the companies that acquired rights to extract oil, gas and minerals is unknown, often hidden behind a chain of corporate entities. This opacity can contribute to corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in the extractive sector.
“As per the EITI Standard, the Beneficial Ownership refers to reporting of a natural person(s) who ultimately control a mining or petroleum company and the Roadmap has been endorsed by the PNGEITI Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) to be implemented over the next three years, commencing this year, to address issues and challenges as identified before PNG reports on beneficial ownership in 2020,” Alkan said.
The 2016 EITI Standard requires member countries to publish Beneficial Ownership details in their EITI reports and the EITI International Board approved that this reporting will come into effect in 2020.
PNGEITI engaged KPMG, who undertook a scoping study on Beneficial Ownership and developed the Roadmap that will be used to prepare PNG to meet this reporting requirement.
“PNG is one of the 51 mineral rich countries that has signed up to implement the EITI concept to bring about global standard and best practice in the extractive sector,” Alkan said.
“As an EITI member country, we will be required to disclose company ownership details in the extractive sector by the above date.
“A key requirement for EITI implementing countries is to produce annual reports. Since PNG joined EITI in 2013, we have produced two reports on the extractive sector for the fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and we will be to producing the 2015 financial year report due end of this year.
“In the 2020 report, we will be required to include details on beneficial ownership and the Roadmap is to help us to prepare for this.”
The Beneficial Ownership Roadmap can be accessed on PNGEITI website at www.pngeiti.org and/or email info@pngeiti.org.pg to find out more on the subject.