SEC To Require Companies To Report Conflict Minerals

Bloomberg reported the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is about to pass a law requiring companies to report metals trading done with warlords.

As quoted in the market news:

The so-called conflict minerals rule is opposed by the two Republicans on the five-member commission, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions leading up the Aug. 22 vote are private. The rule has sparked two years of debate since the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act mandated that the SEC impose the rule, with some business groups railing against the costs of tracking thousands of suppliers through every link of a chain that leads to their source mines.

Once the rule is in place, the agency estimates 6,000 publicly-traded companies — mostly manufacturers and retailers — must report to the SEC where they get their tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold. The rule is meant to halt the flow of mining money to those committing atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo by pressuring manufacturers to protect their reputations — not by issuing an outright ban on using the conflict metals.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.