February 10, 2012
Dear SEC Commissioners,
Please do not give in to industry pressures on Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act (the Cardin-Lugar Amendment) - and make sure that ALL companies are covered, every country and every project gets reported, and loopholes that would allow large sums of money to go unreported are closed.
My Comment:
It is in the long-term interest of the United States and all the nations of the world that the revenues from natural resource extraction in poorer countries be distributed fairly among the population of that country. Extreme inequality resulting from corrupt collusion betwen oil companies and local elites results in epidemic disease, starvation, and ultimately civil unrest. Please use your authority to help prevent this worst case scenario from happening to Equatorial Guinea. Thank you.
Richard Gawthrop