Clarifying the application of the beneficial ownership requirements

Board paper 37-6-A

This paper contains a recommendation from the Implementation Committee to the EITI Board for clarifying the interpretation of requirement 2.5.c. According to Requirement 2.5.c, the requirement for disclosing beneficial ownership applies to “corporate entity(ies) that bid for, operate or invest in extractive assets”. Implementation support and capacity building activities in 2016 has raised some questions with regards to the scope of companies affected by the beneficial ownership requirements and how to interpret provision 2.5.c. Clarifying the scope of application of requirement 2.5 is particularly important considering that several countries are currently drafting or amending legislation with a view to legally mandate beneficial ownership disclosure. Furthermore, it is important to provide implementing countries with a clear indication of how the requirements will be assessed at Validation.