September 12 saw the unveiling of a radical new design with world-changing potential: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s publication of its first human rights rules.

Snuck into the Dodd-Frank Act are a pair of provisos that aim to harness SEC reporting requirements to promote corporate social responsibility and the rule of law. Section 1502 is a “conflict minerals” law that requires manufacturers using gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum from the Congo region to say so, and to systematically avoid minerals spattered with blood from the hands of rapists and child soldiers. Section 1504 is a “Publish What You Pay” law of vast sweep. As interpreted, it requires every energy or mining company listed in the United States to disclose every tax, fee, royalty or other payment above $100,000 to any state or state-controlled entity on earth. The goal is to combat corruption and break the “resource curse” that blights so many nations seemingly blessed with natural wealth.

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