Cameco

Cameco Corporation (formerly Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation) is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18% of world production.[2][3]

History

The Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation was formed in 1988 by the merger and privatization of two Crown corporations: the federally owned Eldorado Nuclear Limited (known previously as Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited) and Saskatchewan-based Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation (SMDC). The name was later shortened to "Cameco Corporation".

The new company was initially owned 62% by the provincial government and 38% by the federal government. The initial public offering (IPO) for 20% of the company was conducted in July, 1991. Government ownership of the company decreased over the next eleven years, with full privatization occurring in February, 2002.

In 1996, Cameco acquired Power Resources Inc., the largest uranium producer in the United States. This was followed in 1998 by the acquisition of Canadian-based Uranerz Exploration and Mining Limited and Uranerz U.S.A., Inc.

Tax Dispute

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) claimed Cameco's tax scheme started in 1999. Cameco created a marketing subsidiary in Zug, Switzerland, and drafted a 17-year agreement to supply uranium to the Swiss subsidiary at a rate of $10 a pound. The corporate tax rate in Switzerland is estimated to be at around 10 per cent. The Canadian corporate rate estimated to be at least 27 per cent.[19] By having the Swiss subsidiary purchase the uranium first, and then selling it elsewhere, Cameco was able to pay the Canadian tax rate for the first $10 and the remainder at the Swiss tax rate.

In 2012, the Canadian research firm Veritas Investment Research estimated that Cameco paid $36 million in cash taxes on $680 million pre-tax cash flow from operations, or at a rate of 5 per cent. During the previous six-year period, the Swiss subsidiary claimed $4.3 billion in profits, while its Canadian operation claimed a loss of $1.3 billion. Cameco had also established another subsidiary in Barbados, a known tax haven. The operations conducted in this subsidiary were not clear, but court documents showed Cameco paid the Barbados subsidiary 50 per cent of its Swiss subsidiary's pre-tax profits in 2005.[20]

The CRA claimed that the Swiss subsidiary profits had to be taxed at Canadian rates, because these subsidiaries did not carry out any real business activities and were just paper companies. It wanted Cameco to pay $2.1 billion in back taxes. Cameco argued that its offshore structures were legitimate and permitted by Canadian tax laws.[20]

In 2018, a judge from the Tax Court of Canada, as well 3 judges from the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in Cameco's favour and found the manner it acted in to be lawful.[21][22] The Tax Court also awarded the company with $10.25 million in legal fees and up to $17.9 million in disbursements for costs incurred. The CRA looked for a final appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada, but on February 18, 2021, the Court declined to hear the appeal.[23] The lower courts' rulings thus were rendered final, leaving the CRA with no further means to pursue this case.

former name	Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation
type	Public
traded as	tsx: CCO nyse: CCJ S&P/TSX 60 component
predecessors	Eldorado Resources Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation
foundation	1988
hq location	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
key people	Catherine Gignac (Board Chair) Tim Gitzel (Chief Executive Officer)
industry	Mining, energy
products	Uranium, electricity
revenue	CA$3.482 billion (2025)‡R1R‡
num employees	2,640
num employees year	2023

History

Operations

Tax Dispute

See also

External links

References