Conflict Minerals Reporting Requirements
Corporate Law Report: Workplace Romances, FMLA Changes, California Tax News, and More
The New SEC Conflict Minerals Rule: Overcoming the Challenges of Compliance
We have been talking about conflict minerals for years. And, so have our manufacturing clients. As covered previously in this blog, the conflict minerals laws and regulations are some of the most well known, but least...more
The conflict minerals case was remanded to the United Stated District Court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings. Judge Jackson has ordered the parties to file a joint status report, on or before March 10,...more
As is our annual tradition, this is the first in a series of posts that provide industry and legal outlooks for manufacturers as we head into 2017. I will start with corporate compliance and litigation. Matt will follow...more
Last month, I gave a presentation to manufacturers and distributors throughout the United States on Conflict Minerals Laws. The program was sponsored by the United States Department of Commerce. These laws attempt to curb...more
Last year, we provided an overview regarding the requirement that U.S. publicly traded companies disclose their use of “conflict minerals.” As of 2014, the Government Accounting Office reported that 1,321 companies filed the...more
Apple has filed its Form SD for the year ended December 31, 2015. It includes this disclosure: The combination of training, public reporting and a ticking clock drove the number from 82 smelters and refiners...more
This is the first in a series of posts that provide industry and legal outlooks for manufacturers as we head into 2016. I will start with corporate compliance and litigation. Matt will follow with labor/employment. And,...more
On Friday, the SEC and Amnesty International each filed petitions seeking a rehearing en banc of the August 2015 panel opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit regarding the conflict minerals...more
As noted in this Law 360 article and in this thecorporatecounsel.net blog , on Friday, the SEC filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in connection with Oxfam...more
On August 18, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in likely the first majority opinion citing Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities) and George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four), re-affirmed its...more
On August 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reaffirmed its April 2014 decision in NAM v. SEC, where it held that certain portions of the SEC’s conflict minerals reporting requirements unconstitutionally...more
In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed a law called the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Action of 2010 (the Dodd-Frank Act).” The Dodd-Frank Act is generally known as the legislative response to the...more
It’s that time of year again. Form SD filings are due June 1st (May 31st falls on a Sunday). For those who have been diligently working on your company’s annual report and proxy statement, it is time to turn your attention...more
Earlier, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the appellants in the conflict minerals case, NAM et al, to file a response to the SEC’s and Amnesty International’s petition for an en...more
As required by section 1502(d)(3)(C) of Dodd-Frank, the U.S. Commerce Department has compiled and posted (albeit more than a year late) a list of ”all known conflict mineral processing facilities worldwide.” Without the...more
The first wave of Form SD filings has come and gone, leaving us with more insight into supply chains and manufacturing processes than most of us ever wanted, yet much uncertainty about the actual sources of the conflict...more
The fourth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act has prompted renewed discussion over the effectiveness of the legislation. Legislators continue their debate over the Financial Stability Oversight Committee and the Volcker Rule....more
If your company manufactures consumer electronics, avionics, or any product incorporating even trace amounts of gold, coltan, cassiterite, or wolframite— including their derivatives, tantalum, tin, and tungsten—you may need...more
Court denies emergency motion for a stay. By order issued on May 14, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the appellants’ emergency motion for a stay of the Securities and Exchange...more
As you sit at your desk waiting for any guidance regarding what your Conflict Minerals Report should look like, you may allow yourself to think about June 3, 2014, the day after companies are required to file their Form SD...more
The second Form SD and related conflicts minerals report has been filed. They are interesting documents but may still not be the holy grail of precedents because of, among other things, the use of terms like “Conflict Free...more
I hope NAM et al are successful in their motion for a stay of the conflict minerals rules, but it certainly isn’t a slam dunk. The SEC has filed its response to the motion for emergency stay. ...more
On April 29, Keith Higgins, the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance, issued a public statement offering guidance on companies’ compliance with the conflict minerals rule in...more
On May 2, 2014, the SEC issued an order partially staying its Conflict Minerals Rule. Essentially, the order reiterates the SEC’s April 29, 2014, guidance that the Commission will not require companies subject to the conflict...more
The SEC has denied NAM’s motion for a full stay of the conflict minerals rules. As I indicated, it was somewhat of a hail Mary, but maybe a precondition to asking the court for relief. ...more