President Trump’s first legislative act was to sign into law a repeal of a transparency rule aimed at keeping public oil companies in check with regard to their international operations and limiting the scope for bribery and corruption. Part of the so-called Dodd-Frank Act, devised after the 2008 financial crisis to avoid a repeat of the events that led to it, the rule stipulated that U.S. public oil companies must declare all payments made to the U.S. and foreign governments and agencies in the form of royalties and taxes, starting from their financial year ending in or after September 2018. It was an Act that Big Oil was very vocally against, saying the rule put it at a disadvantage to its foreign peers. Many of these foreign competitors are based in Europe, however, and are bound by similar regulations issued by the EU, supporters of Dodd-Frank have argued. Public […]