SEC Adopts Final Rule Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act for Disclosing the Use of Conflict Minerals
On August 22, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a new rule pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requiring public companies to make disclosures of “conflict minerals” in their products. The rule is designed to reduce the funding of armed groups engaged in conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) by mandating additional disclosure requirements on the use and source of certain minerals whose exploitation and trade Congress believed are contributing to significant human rights abuses in the DRC.