Senate votes to repeal transparency rule for oil companies
Senate votes to repeal transparency rule for oil companies
By Timothy Cama - 02/03/17 06:53 AM EST
The Senate voted strictly along party lines Friday morning to repeal a regulation requiring disclosures for the payments that energy companies make to foreign governments.
The measure passed 52-47 in a pre-dawn vote.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) foreign payments rule was mandated by a key provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill and was meant to reduce corruption in resource-rich countries by detailing the royalties and other payments that oil, natural gas, coal and mineral companies make to governments.
But the rule, made final last year, fell victim to a push by congressional Republicans to erase large portions of former President Barack Obama’s legacy by repealing major regulations through the Congressional Review Act. The move followed a late Thursday vote against the Interior Department’s stream protection rule for coal mining.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/317700-senate-votes-to-repeal-transparency-rule-for-oil-companies