Transparency at commodity companies

As part of the revision of company law, companies operating in the commodities sector that are subject to mandatory auditing are required to provide increased transparency (Art. 964d ff. CO). This includes the disclosure of business-related payments of over CHF 100’000.- to government bodies. Government bodies are defined as national, regional or municipal authorities of a third country as well as departments or companies controlled by these authorities.

The introduction of these provisions is intended to ensure greater transparency in the Swiss commodities sector and thus increase the responsibility of companies domiciled in Switzerland for their actions in the extraction of commodities in third countries. An important aim of these special transparency provisions is to create important access to information that is important in the fight against corruption and for a fair distribution of wealth.

Only companies that are obliged to undergo an ordinary audit are subject to the regulations. A company belongs to the defined commodities sector if it is active directly or through subsidiaries in the extraction of minerals, oil or natural gas or the felling of timber in primary forests. Extraction includes all corporate activities in the areas of exploration, prospection, discovery, development and production of minerals as well as oil and natural gas deposits.

The report must be published electronically within six months of the end of the financial year and must be publicly accessible for at least ten years. If there is an obligation to consolidate the annual financial statements, the transparency report for the entire group must also be consolidated. This replaces the reporting of the individual companies.