26 LEXPERT
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2016/17
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WWW.LEXPERT.CA
TRANSPARENCY
THE PUSH FOR
TRANSPARENCY
IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, the pay-to-play tradition of
greasing government palms is increasingly under pressure from anti-
corruption legislation and new say-what-you-pay laws.
Canada's new Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (EST-
MA) is a fairly faithful copy of say-what-you-pay laws in 11 European
Union countries, the UK and seven other nations, as well as a new
securities rule expected in the US by year end, which will replace an
earlier version scrapped by the US District Court.
"Around the world the resource sector is worth $1,000 trillion, yet
citizens of many countries are extremely poor," says Martine Guimond
of Gowling WLG in Montréal. is makes extractive industries –
mining and oil and gas production – an obvious first target for trans-
parency laws, Guimond says.
Canada's new say-what-
you-pay rules follow an
international trend that
is radically changing
how governments in
developing countries
work with mining
companies
by Brian Burton
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
