“As the Chief Executive and Treasurer of Britain’s governing party, Mick Davis should be setting an example —not fronting offshore companies and striking deals that get mining billionaires accused of bribery off the hook,” said Daniel Balint-Kurti, Head of Investigations at Global Witness. “Mr Davis’s actions fly in the face the UK government’s efforts to end secrecy over company ownership, which has long protected corrupt deal-makers from scrutiny.”

The company led by Mr Davis, called Niron, is owned by a Bahamas company called Global Special Opportunities Ltd (GSOL), according to the UK corporate registry. The Bahamas is a well known secrecy jurisdiction, which means that companies such as GSOL can keep their owners secret. The agreement says that Niron will pay Guinea the $50 million, and be granted mining rights to a block previously confiscated from BSGR over corruption allegations. Niron has not signed the agreement, although it has addressed the matter in a separate, confidential letter to BSGR. As well as the $50 million payment, Global Witness’s story today reveals other new details of BSGR’s saga, including...

BSGR has said corruption allegations are “entirely baseless” and that it always acted “to the highest standards of corporate governance”. GSOL said it operates to the “highest professional, ethical and environmental standards”. Niron says on its website that it “is committed to achieving the highest environmental, social and ethical standards in all its activities”. It said: “GSOL brings to Niron experience in mining, logistics and infrastructure development, as well as significant financial resources”.