November 7, 2014 – November 14, 2014

The summaries provided in this Weekly Recap do not necessarily represent the views of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP and should not be deemed to be endorsements of them. The Recap is intended to be a compilation of articles and events to encourage discussion within the conflict minerals community and to keep our readers updated on the most recent developments.

Debate on the European Union’s Proposed Conflict Minerals Regulation Began Last Week

J. De Ruyt, in his article titled, Debate in the European Parliament on the European Commission’s Conflict Minerals Proposal, which was posted on The National Law Review’s website, noted that the Committee on International Trade began debating on the EU proposal late last week. Mr. De Ruyt further noted that a hearing is already scheduled for the beginning of December in the Trade and Development Committees. Mr. De Ruyt expects the debate to continue into the next year.

SEC: Don’t Expect Comments on First-Year Conflict Minerals Filings

During the Practicing Law Institute’s Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, Shelley E. Parratt, the Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, commented that issuers should not expect the SEC to comment on any of the first-year conflict minerals filings. Ms. Parratt did reserve SEC comment on future filings.

Of course, Ms. Parratt was not speaking on behalf of the SEC, but only expressing her personal views. However, this should provide some comfort to issuers for now.