SEC Adopts Rules Requiring Payment Disclosures by Resource Extraction Issuers
On August 22, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted Rule 13q-1 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), implementing the extractive issuer disclosure provisions of Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), which added Section 13(q) to the Exchange Act and directed the SEC to issue rules requiring that a resource extraction issuer disclose payments to a foreign government or the federal government for the purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals. Section 13(q) supports the federal government’s commitment to international transparency promotion efforts relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals, such as the Extraction Industries Transparency Initiative (“EITI”).