Take Veil From Extractive Industries, British PM Says

UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, called for more openness among energy companies during his trip to Washington. Cameron claimed "a veil of secrecy" obscures the conduct of the extractive industries, UPI reports.

 The British leader expressed the sentiments in an article for the Wall Street Journal that G8 members need a common standard for the extractive industries where companies report all of their payments and governments report their full revenues.

The G8, or Group of Eight leading industrialized countries, holds its next meeting in Northern Ireland next month.

"We must lift the veil of secrecy that too often lets corrupt corporations and officials in some countries run rings around the law," Cameron writes. "We need business to make the case for new openness about who really owns and controls every company...And we must all work harder to secure and fully implement the new standard that will see oil, gas and mining companies reporting project by project payments across the world without exception."

The BBC adds that the PM also revealed he had ordered an urgent review of the UK's failure to sign up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which published payments by firms to governments.

"We cannot call on other countries to live up to these high standards if we are not prepared to do so ourselves," Cameron said.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission ruled last year that oil and natural gas companies must disclose payments to foreign governments.Energy company representatives say parts of the Dodd-Frank Act may be viewed as a violation of free-speech protections in the US Constitution.