International Accounting Standards

Publish What You Pay calls for an International Financial Reporting Standard for the extractive industries to include a requirement that extractive industry companies disclose in their accounts all payments that they make to the governments of countries in which they extract resources, and to agencies or representatives of those governments.

This disclosure should include royalties, taxes, signature bonuses, duties, profit shares and other payments, which should be published on a country-by-country basis within the accounts. Any significant payments in kind should also be disclosed.

The International Accounting Standards Board is currently considering an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for the extractive industries. An IFRS determines what companies publish in their annual reports and would cover more than 90 countries, as well as influencing the US accounting standards.

An IFRS for the extractives sector is comprehensive in its reach, ensuring that industry competitiveness is preserved. The inclusion of a disclosure requirement within an IFRS for the extractive industries would not involve significant extra costs for companies, which already collate such data for internal accounting purposes.


LATEST: "Extracting Transparency: The Need for an International Financial Reporting Standard for the Extractive Industries" (September 2005)

Global Witness and Save the Children UK and other Publish What You Pay coalition partners have teamed up to publish this report, which deals with the proposed new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for the Extractive Industries that is currently being considered by international and national accounting standard setters.

The report argues that country-by-country reporting by oil, gas and mining companies on commercial performance, reserves, taxes and other benefits paid to governments, is essential information for investors, analysts and all other users of company financial statements when making investment decisions about extractive companies.

PWYP is encouraging all interested persons and organisations to provide feedback on the various questions and proposals put forward in the report. A questionnaire is available for all responses and comments. Completed quesionnaires should be sent to Hugo Sintes at CARE International UK by 30 November 2005: sintes@careinternational.org or fax: +44 (0) 20 7934 9335
.
For further information go to: www.publishwhatyoupay.org/ifrs