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The Conservative government will start withholding millions of dollars in salaries and other funding from nearly 200 First Nations after they failed to publish detailed financial information online, as is required by a controversial federal law.

Under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, 581 First Nations from across the country were required to post audited financial statements on the Internet by midnight Tuesday or risk losing non-essential funding from the federal government.

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The information to be made public included how much money individual band leaders made during the year, no matter whether the income came from federal funding or the First Nation’s business interests.

The federal Aboriginal Affairs department said 191 – or nearly one-third – had not posted their information as of Wednesday. While more are expected to trickle in over the next few days, the figure is still striking after only 10 First Nations did not comply with the law last year.