The tragedies occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are devastating. Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, believe that the mining and trading of conflict minerals has helped finance armed groups and contributed to the continued violence in the DRC. The U.S. Congress has chosen to make a statement against the atrocities through its legislative power. Congress believes that reducing the use of conflict minerals will reduce the funding available to militia groups and thus result in less violence. As such, in 2010, as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection (Dodd-Frank) Act, Congress adopted the Conflict Minerals Statutory Provision, which required the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt rules requiring reporting companies that use conflict minerals to disclose whether those minerals originated in the DRC or one of DRC’s neighboring countries (a covered country). By requiring such disclosure, Congress expects there to be increased public awareness of the use of conflict minerals and greater due diligence on supply chain matters.
On August 22, the SEC adopted final rules to implement the disclosure required by the Conflict Minerals Statutory Provision. The rules require companies to utilize a three-step test to determine what disclosure, if any, is required, and they apply to all reporting companies, including foreign private issuers, emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies. The SEC actually estimates that approximately 40 percent of reporting companies will be impacted by these rules. Thus, many companies should consider the applicability of the rules.
