API applauds Trump’s rollback of SEC transparency rule

American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Jack Gerard recently expressed his support for President Trump’s rollback of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule requiring oil and mining companies to report payments made to foreign governments.

Congress utilized the Congressional Review Act to repeal the rule, which implemented section 1504 of the Obama-era Dodd-Frank Act.

“The President’s signature on the Congressional Review Act is a welcome step forward for American competitiveness and jobs,” Gerard said. “The oil and natural gas industry strongly supports transparency and has pursued this effort for over a decade through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, a globally accepted framework.”

API previously proposed a payment transparency model that would require the SEC to compile and publish company payment data while disclosing payments received by federal and local government by resource type, the location of the extractive activity and the method of extraction.

“Our industry offered a model for an SEC rule that would achieve disclosure requirements without putting U.S., publicly-listed energy producers at a disadvantage to foreign competitors around the world who are not subject to any disclosure,” Gerard said. “We look forward to continuing these efforts and working with the SEC, Congress, and the new administration to achieve reforms that do not harm our nation’s businesses and workers.”