Chairman Piwowar’s Statement on SECs Conflict Minerals Rule – We Could Have Seen It Coming

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.”  Interestingly, he called for comments only about whether additional relief from requirements should be given, and not about whether any elements of the rule should be strengthened.  He called for a 45 day comment period.

Along with that statement, he issued another statement providing some insight into this new reconsideration of the rule. This insight focused mostly on the “unintended consequences” of the rule on the human rights of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC or Congo) and adjoining countries.  He stated:

The disclosure requirements have caused a de facto boycott of minerals from portions of Africa, with effects far beyond the Congo-adjacent region. Legitimate mining operators are facing such onerous costs to comply with the rule that they are being put out of business. It is also unclear that the rule has in fact resulted in any reduction in the power and control of armed gangs or eased the human suffering of many innocent men, women, and children in the Congo and surrounding areas. Moreover, the withdrawal from the region may undermine U.S. national security interests by creating a vacuum filled by those with less benign interests.

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