The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation (“EU Regulation”) is aimed at reducing the financing of armed conflicts through the trade of valuable minerals. But, before the EU Regulation went into full effect on 1 January 2021, the UK completed its separation from the EU. To understand what the EU Regulation means for them following Brexit, importers … Continue Reading
As SEC reporting companies finalize their conflict minerals disclosures each year, they typically review the Form SD requirement that calls for a description of any steps taken or to be taken to improve their conflict minerals due diligence. This required disclosure is typically provided in sections called “Actions Taken and to be Taken to Improve … Continue Reading
In its first two months, the Biden Administration has given significant attention to climate-related and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure issues. February 1, 2021 — The SEC announced the appointment of Satyam Khanna as the Senior Policy Advisor for Climate and ESG. He is to oversee the SEC’s efforts relating to climate risk and … Continue Reading
Now that the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation (EU Regulation) is in full effect, EU importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold and derivative products need to determine whether they are covered by the EU Regulation. Those EU importers that are covered by the EU Regulation are required to implement a supply chain due diligence process … Continue Reading
If you are an EU importer of tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold (3TG) covered by the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, as of 1 January your due diligence process must comply with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. Non-compliance may have serious legal and reputational consequences. You may have listened to webinars and read white papers on … Continue Reading
In yesterday’s post, we said we expected that the Biden Administration would re-focus attention on the US conflict minerals rule. In a similar vein, by the end of Inauguration Day, the Biden Administration indicated that it wants a review of recent amendments to a Labor Department rule that require that ERISA plan fiduciaries put financial … Continue Reading
In less than 7 months, the EU conflict minerals regulation will take full effect, and importers into the European Union of certain threshold amounts of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) and of metals containing 3TG will be subject to it. As of today, despite Brexit, importers into the UK will be subject to it … Continue Reading
We have been following this year’s conflict minerals filings to determine whether reporting companies have highlighted any impact of the COVID-19 shut-downs on their conflict minerals due diligence measures or results. Based on our review of the 320 filings through May 27, 2020, 14 conflict minerals reports included references to “COVID-19,” “coronavirus” and/or the “pandemic. … Continue Reading
As we discussed in a previous post, early in 2019, some companies were expressing concern that, because of the impacts of the shut-downs associated with COVID-19, certain of their suppliers might not be able to provide responses to their conflict minerals inquiries in a timely manner. They worried that their conflict minerals disclosures for calendar … Continue Reading
You will recall that on March 25, 2020, to address certain challenges created by COVID-19, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the Order that extended the filing periods for certain public company reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act. The relief granted by the Order applied to specific Securities Exchange Act reporting requirements. However, … Continue Reading
As of March 26, 2020, the filing deadline for Form SD’s is unchanged from the May 31 deadline included in the text of the Conflict Minerals Rule (and in the instructions to the Form SD). Note: because May 31, 2020 is a Sunday, the filing deadline for the Form SD’s for reporting year 2019 is … Continue Reading
The out-of-pocket costs of compliance with the SEC conflict minerals rule have been lower than those originally estimated by industry and by the SEC. But, it’s not because the original estimates were over-stated or inflated. And, these lower than expected out-of-pocket costs don’t mean that business’ concerns about compliance were misplaced. These lower costs have resulted mostly (but … Continue Reading
Today, on June 8, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the Financial CHOICE Act by a vote of 233 to 186. The bill was sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). The headline of the bill is that it would reverse much of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection … Continue Reading
At long last, the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation was published today in the Official Journal of the European Union. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation 2017 (as published) will enter into force 20 days after publication (June 8, 2017) and take effect 1 month after that (July 8, 2017). The effective date is January 2021, but companies would … Continue Reading
With only 19 days left before the SECs Form SD filing deadline, there is still a lot of talk about consequences of the SECs April 7, 2017 Statement (“April 2017 Statement”). In that statement, the SEC staff indicated that it would not recommend enforcement action to the Commission if a company that is otherwise required to … Continue Reading
Those hoping for updated SEC guidance that would relieve or reduce companies’ conflict minerals diligence and disclosure obligations for calendar year 2016 got only a fraction of what they wanted. Last Friday, April 7, 2017, the SECs Acting Chair Michael Piwowar issued a statement that said “it is difficult to conceive of a circumstance that … Continue Reading
Today, April 3, 2017, the European Council took the last procedural step and approved the EU conflict minerals regulation. Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union will be the next and final step of the process. The publication could occur in 3 to 6 weeks. Here is the text of the official EU Conflict Minerals … Continue Reading
The proposed EU conflict minerals regulation has almost reached the last step before becoming an official EU regulation. On March 16, 2017, the European Parliament voted to approve the regulation, and the Council of the EU is expected to formally approve it in the weeks to come. The Council’s vote will be the last step … Continue Reading
“Hear ye, Hear ye.” The parties to the legal challenge of the SECs conflict minerals rule have agreed that no further court proceedings are necessary and have requested that the US District Court enter a judgment in accordance with the decisions of the Court of Appeals — that is, that certain elements of the rule violated reporting entities’ First … Continue Reading
You may have read that President Trump signed an executive order repealing or waiving the SEC conflict minerals rule. Not true — at least not yet. As of February 14th, no executive order relating to the conflict minerals rule had been signed. But, a leaked draft of an executive order and rumors about a plan … Continue Reading
In a move that has already been widely reported, on January 31, 2017, the SEC’s Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar issued a statement on the SECs conflict minerals rule, in which he directed the SEC staff to “consider whether the [April] 2014 guidance is still appropriate and whether any additional relief is appropriate in the interim.” … Continue Reading
Almost two months after the negotiations of the EU conflict minerals regulation were concluded, there has been some movement towards the end of the European legislative cycle. On January 24, 2017, the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee approved the text of the conflict minerals regulation submitted following the three-way trilogue negotiations that were completed on … 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
