[co-author: Leo Chomiak]

As a reminder, conflict minerals disclosures on Forms SD are required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) no later than June 1, 2021.

The conflict minerals disclosure rules and related guidance have been at a practical standstill for the past four years, following legal challenges to the rules and a remand to the SEC for further action. As a result, no notable regulatory updates have been implemented since the April 2017 no-action relief statement by the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (Division). In that statement, the Division indicated it would not recommend enforcement action against companies for not complying with the requirements of Form SD to conduct due diligence and file a “conflict minerals report,” although it would expect companies with conflict minerals in their supply chains to file a Form SD. (See our April 11, 2017, client alert “SEC Staff Provides Relief From Conflict Minerals Rule.”)

Even though the no-action relief remains in effect, many companies have continued to conduct due diligence and file full conflict minerals reports with the SEC, given already implemented diligence processes, existing contractual obligations and the expectations of interested stakeholders.

For additional information concerning the conflict minerals rules, please see our other client alerts:

• “SEC Adopts Conflict Minerals Rules,” September 5, 2012;
• “SEC Staff Issues Conflict Minerals & Resource Extraction Payments Disclosure Guidance,” June 3, 2013; and
• “SEC Staff Issues Statement on Conflict Minerals Ruling,” April 30, 2014.

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