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Guyana Gold Fields (AGM), Troy Resources Guyana Inc. among 19 companies which refuse to disclose persons who benefit from their profits
By Kiana Wilburg
Guyana Goldfields (AGM) and Troy Resources Guyana are among the 19 mining companies which refused to disclose the names of persons who benefit from its profits, which would have been subsequently revealed in the nation’s first report to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
The document has a special section which is dedicated to “beneficial ownership”. This is in keeping with the reporting requirements of EITI. In fact, one of the EITI Standards stipulates that implementing countries must maintain a publicly available register of the beneficial owners of the corporate entity(ies) that bid for, operate or invest in extractive assets, including the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s), the level of ownership and details of how ownership or control is exerted.
Guyana does not have such a register. And efforts by the Independent Administrator, Rached Maalej to obtain this information for Guyana’s first report were not entirely fruitful.
GY-EITI Head, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat
The companies which refused to communicate the names of beneficial owners are: Innovative Mining, R Mining Inc., Azeem Baksh, Gold Target Export, Milburn Mahadeo, Grey Wolf Resources, Tesouro Resources, J&D Mining, New East International, Higgins Winslow Theophilus, Wal Jays Mining, Harpy Investment, Bauxite Company of Guyana (Rusal), BOSAI Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc, El Dorado Trading, SSS Mineral Trading Ent, and Adamantium Holdings.
The only companies which displayed no resistance to naming its beneficial owners are Excel Minerals Inc., Dinar Trading, Pure Diamond Inc., and Mohamed’s Enterprise.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Head of GY-EITI, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat explained that the companies were asked to submit the information regarding beneficial ownership but many of them opted not to.
He said, “And I don’t want to speculate or get into what are the reasons for the companies refusing to do so.”
PUBLIC REGISTER
In the meantime, Dr. Jadoopat told Kaieteur News that the local chapter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is working towards the creation of a public registry of beneficial owners and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in the oil and gas sector.
The official noted that the creation of the registry is an important aspect of the work of the local chapter.
According to Dr. Jadoopat, the register coincides with a requirement of the EITI Standard, which calls for the disclosure of those persons who ultimately control and receive proceeds from licences to extract a country’s natural resources. He also noted that the role of “Politically Exposed Persons” is an area of particular concern.
“Many practices can make obscure who are the true beneficial owners of a company. The use of one or more shell companies and/or proxy/nominee owners and directors are two such practices. It is therefore important to strengthen the legal framework in key areas and to ensure that information on beneficial owners are publicly accessible in registries,” Dr. Jadoopat emphasized.
He added, “It is worth noting that EITI’s interest in beneficial ownership dovetails with that of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and its regional affiliates. Thus, there will be a degree of complementarity on this topic between Guyana’s pursuit of EITI compliance and compliance under FATF.”
Further to this, Dr. Jadoopat said that other areas of the law that are complementarily important to ensure greater disclosure are the Access to Information Act and the Integrity Commissions, which are fully functional and in order. He commented that these provide citizen groups, police and journalists with the means of accessing information that might prove critical on PEPs, such as asset declarations and published salaries.
Additionally, Dr. Jadoopat said that the Petroleum Regulations also make provisions for a body corporate, which has a shared capital to disclose the name of any person who is the beneficial owner of more than five per centum of the issued share capital.
With Guyana’s admission as an EITI candidate country on October 25, 2017, the nation is required to publish a beneficial ownership roadmap by July 2018, with the aim of full disclosure of beneficial ownership by January 1, 2020. Dr. Jadoopat was pleased to note that the roadmap has been published.
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