BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY
Companies operating in the public sphere should be accountable for their actions and impacts on human rights and the environment, and in order to achieve this, transparency is essential.
» Through legislation: The European Union, for example, has adopted a series of legislation that requires companies in specific sectors to report on their impacts and activities. Find out more here » Through the fundamental right to information: Access to information is a fundamental human right and therefore it cannot be violated by any private actor. However, private actors not yet obliged to respond to freedom of information requests; except for in South Africa.
» Business Transparency News: We keep an eye on corporate transparency legislation.
» Company Ownership Transparency: We use access to information laws to test accessibility of corporate information in practice and to push for improved transparency.
BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY NEWS
Request Process in Kosovo
Summary: Oral Refusal Followed By Administrative Silence Request sent to Agency for Business Registration (Click here) Outcome of request Administrative Silence Time taken to respond N/A (Deadline is of 15 working days) Reason for refusal N/A On 5 August 2013, a request for access to the full company register
Request Process in Italy
Summary: You Must Pay for Access and You Are Prohibited From Re-Using the Data Request sent to The Chamber of Commerce - Italian Business Register (Click here) Outcome of request Information refused. Time taken to respond 14 days (deadline is 30 calendar days) Reasons for refusal Must pay for access.
Request Process in Hungary
Summary: You Cannot Request Bulk Access, Only Access to Specific Records Request sent to Hungarian Ministry of Justice Outcome of request Information Refused. Time taken to respond 2 working days (Deadline of 15 working days) Reason for refusal Only need to answer requests for individual records. Another law overrides FOI
Request Process in Finland
Summary: You Must Pay to Access the Company Register Request sent to Finnish Trade Register (Click here) Outcome of request Information refused Time taken to respond 2 working days (Deadline is 7 days) Reason for refusal Must pay for access. A request was sent to the Finnish Trade Register
Request Process in France
Summary: A Case of Administrative Silence - No Response to Our Request Request sent to Registre du Commerce et des Societes (Click here) Outcome of request Administrative silence. Time taken to respond N/A (Deadline is 30 days) Reason for refusal No response received. On 31 October 2013 Access Info