Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
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40 S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 • Prime M inister Stephen Harper announced Canada's commitment to implement, by 2015, mandatory disclo- sure requirements for payments made to governments by oil, gas and mining companies both domestically and abroad, now known as the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, or ESTMA. In 2014, the United Kingdom, France and Germany developed draft legislation to implement the EU Transparency and Accounting Directives. U.K. legislation is now adopted and will apply to compa- nies with a fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2015. In the spring of 2014, the Canadian government began public consultations, seeking input from public-interest and industry groups on disclosure stan- dards. These new standards are intended to improve transparency within the industry and to achieve alignment with similar measures set out in the EU and U.S. It is also apparent that the Canadian government is seek ing to broaden accountability and alignment with other initiatives, as evidenced by the 2013 amendments to the CFPOA and the November 2014 disclosure of govern- ment's CSR strategy and policy. Application of ESTMA The reporting obligations (Section 8) apply broadly to companies listed on a Canadian stock exchange as well as cer- tain private companies involved in the commercial development of oil, gas or minerals. This includes exploration or extraction as well as acquisition or hold- ing of a permit, licence, lease or other authorization to carry out prescribed activities. Subsidiaries of these compa- nies and entities falling under direct or indirect control will also be subject to the Act. Section 23(c) allows the Governor in Council to develop regulations including the definition of "control." The entities obligated under ESTMA are largely similar to those under U.S. and EU legislation, with the exception that some private companies are also captured in the EU and Canadian legislation. This broader jurisdiction is consistent with the 2013 amendments to the CFPOA. Reporting Entities, as defined above, must report annually to the Government of Canada, detailing payments made to foreign or domestic governments or public bodies if the payments made in the year amount to at least $100,000, or an amount pre- scribed by regulations. Reports must be filed within 150 days of the entity's fiscal year end and must include an attestation by an officer or director of the entity, or an independent auditor or accountant. Payments, whether monetary or in kind, include those made in relation to the commercial development of oil, gas or minerals that fall within any of the fol- lowing categories: "The reporting obligations (Section 8) apply broadly to companies listed on a Canadian stock exchange as well as certain private companies . . . "