It’s January 2017, and some believe it will be the last year for the SECs conflict minerals rule. Political and Legislative Environment President Trump’s inclination to roll back regulation reduces or even eliminates the likelihood of a Presidential veto of any Congressional action to repeal Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act and the SECs conflict minerals … Continue Reading
Since the US Presidential Election 2 weeks ago, some have been looking forward to a possible repeal of the US conflict minerals rule by a newly-elected Trump Administration. But, the completion of the negotiations on the new EU conflict minerals regulation makes it clear that companies should not slow their due diligence efforts on the … Continue Reading
As we approach the end of conflict minerals compliance year 4 (with 3 years of reports behind us), companies are budgeting for how they will address conflict minerals in 2017. Since the SEC rule took effect, supply chain professionals and in-house lawyers have found that compliance is complicated, time-consuming, and still changing because of the … Continue Reading
What Just Happened? April 7, 2016 was the deadline for filing a petition for writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court seeking a review of the court of appeals’ decision on the conflict minerals rule. The SEC did not file the petition, and Amnesty International (the intervenor in the case) did not make the … Continue Reading
The next and last step of the legal challenge of the SEC’s 2012 conflict minerals rule would be for the SEC to file a petition for writ of certiorari to the U. S. Supreme Court. The deadline for making that filing has been extended again, this time from March 9th to April 7th, 2016.… Continue Reading
Many of you are asking what is happening with the EU conflict minerals regulation, what is the likely timing for adopting the regulation, and what should you do now to prepare. Process — The development of the EU conflict minerals regulation has now entered the final negotiation phase. This phase, known as the “trialogue negotiations,” involves informal meetings between the … Continue Reading
Companies and industry groups have been working for over 3 years on investigation and due diligence processes to determine the source and chain of custody of the tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) in their products. But, there could now be pressure to add to the list of conflict minerals. Compliance Week raised this question last week in … Continue Reading
When the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals rule was issued in 2012, US reporting companies (and their suppliers) developed and implemented conflict minerals compliance programs. Companies have continued to enhance and beef up their programs since then. Now, companies should be supplementing their compliance programs to be ready to address the requirements of … Continue Reading
In a summary order handed down yesterday, November 9, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the petitions of the SEC and Amnesty International for a rehearing en banc of the Court’s August 2015 opinion (which reaffirmed its prior ruling that a small portion of the Conflict Minerals Rule violates the First Amendment). So, is the … Continue Reading
We have been watching the EU process for some time, eager to determine when the EU conflict minerals regulation will finally be adopted. A source familiar with the EU Council proceedings has told us about the Council’s next steps, which will determine when the final consensus of the regulation can be expected. The Council of the EU is currently developing its … Continue Reading
Note: The following event is to take place on November 3, 2015 at 8:30 A.M. EDT at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, 4900 Key Tower, 127 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44114 and will not be broadcasted via webinar (i.e., this event must be attended in-person). Companies have been living with the SEC’s conflict minerals … Continue Reading
October 2, 2015 marked another step in the continuing legal challenge of the conflict minerals rule. The SEC and Amnesty International filed petitions requesting an en banc rehearing of the April 2014 and the August 2015 D.C. Court of Appeals panel decisions, in an effort to reverse the ruling that struck down portions of the … Continue Reading
In a previous post, we provided a summary of both the maneuverings of the SEC’s resource extraction rule after it was issued and Oxfam’s suit to speed up the SEC’s development of a revised rule after it was vacated. As a reminder, on September 2, 2015 (nearly a year after the Oxfam case was filed), a federal judge gave the SEC a … Continue Reading
The summer in Brussels is over and the European Parliament is back in session, following a month-long break in activity. This hiatus means that little has happened with the draft conflict minerals regulation over the past weeks. You will recall that the July meeting of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) led to … Continue Reading
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, featured our very own Dynda Thomas, founder and leader of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP’s conflict minerals team, in a video presentation titled Conflict Minerals Reporting Challenges U.S. Companies and Their Suppliers. Dynda provides background on the conflict minerals rule, discusses the application of the rule, and describes … Continue Reading
Editors Note: A prior version of this blog post incorrectly attributed the sentence in bold below. We sincerely apologize for any confusion this may have caused. This version has now been corrected. Views on the Draft Regulation The draft EU conflict minerals regulation is a voluntary system of certification, which covers imports of the minerals … Continue Reading
The European Union (EU) is considering legislation that would regulate the importation of conflict minerals into the EU. The European Commission announced its proposed regulation on March 5, 2014. The draft regulation contains proposals for a voluntary self-certification process for importers of conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, and tungsten and gold) into the EU from anywhere … Continue Reading
For purposes of the conflict minerals rule, conflict minerals that are sourced from recycled or scrap materials are deemed to be “DRC conflict free” and require disclosure only about the inquiry that led the reporting company to conclude that they were from those recycled or scrap sources. That means that for products whose conflict minerals … Continue Reading
Companies are unsure of how to prepare for the year 2 filings while the legal challenge is still pending and there is uncertainty about exactly what the reporting requirements will be when the filing deadline finally arrives. Legal Challenge to the Conflict Minerals Rule In the last few posts, we’ve discussed the legal challenge to the conflict … Continue Reading
We’ve been waiting for months. And now, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has granted the SEC’s petition for rehearing of the court’s April 2014 decision that found that certain disclosure requirements of the conflict minerals rule violated the First Amendment. The parties have been ordered to file supplemental briefs to discuss: The effect of … Continue Reading
In a ruling today, May 14, the Court of Appeals denied the emergency motion to stay the Conflict Minerals Rule. So, companies should complete their analysis and, if necessary, their drafting of Form SDs and Conflict Minerals Reports to be ready to file by the June 2 deadline. However, remember that on May 2, the SEC issued a partial … Continue Reading
Between May 8 and May 13, briefs on the trade associations’ emergency motion for stay were filed by the SEC, the trade association petitioners, an industry coalition, and Amnesty International. Two steps remain — First, the oral argument in American Meat Institute, which is set for May 19. American Meat Institute is a case involving a First Amendment … Continue Reading
Today, Monday May 12, the second Form SD and Conflict Minerals Report was filed with the SEC by Affymetrix, Inc. Affymetrix described itself as a “provider of life science products and molecular diagnostic products.” Consistent with our usual practice, we will not provide a critique of the filing here. However, it is worth noting that, like … Continue Reading
On May 2, the SEC issued a partial stay of the Conflict Minerals Rule. This partial stay implements the substance of the statement of the Director of Corporation Finance that was released on Tuesday, April 29th. Our blog post of April 29th summarizes the SEC Statement. As they indicated they would, the trade groups that challenged the Conflict Minerals Rule filed a … Continue Reading
