Oil and gas companies have pipped many of the world’s most respected brands in a report on corporate reporting by Transparency International.
In its annual report ‘Transparency in Corporate Reporting,’ the Berlin-based organisation said extractive industries outperformed several other sectors in taking steps to fight corruption.
Transparency International evaluated companies’ transparency footprint across 177 countries, examining the extent to which earnings and taxes in specific countries are made public. Companies were awarded a score out of ten.
The industry is often castigated for its opacity, but companies including BP (6.6), ExxonMobil (6.4), Shell (6.2) and Eni (5.9) finished above well-regarded firms such as Apple (3.2), Amazon.com (2.8), Berkshire Hathaway (2.4) and Honda (1.9).
Norway’s Statoil heads a list of the world’s largest companies, with a Transparency rating of 8.3 out of 10. The Company, which is two-thirds owned by the Norwegian state, breaks down its revenue, contributions and taxes on a country-by-country basis.
Country-by-country reporting is considered the optimum means of financial disclosure to avoid money laundering, corruption and tax avoidance.
Miner Rio Tinto was runner up with a score of 7.2. Occidental and Chevron both obtained scores of 5.2 out of 10.
“The world’s largest companies are increasingly committed to reporting on their measures for preventing corruption,” said the Transparency International report. “When it comes to disclosure, the best performing sectors were mining, oil and gas – the extractives sector. Companies from these industries took six of the top 10 positions in the ranking.
“Hopefully this is a sign that pressure from investors, governments and society encourages businesses to become more transparent. Extractive companies have long been targeted for the opacity of their operations, but have improved noticeably in this regard since Transparency International first evaluated them in 2008.”
Transparency International said the financial sector was the worst performer. The lowest scoring companies in Europe, Asia and America were all banks.
