On Monday, a Washington D.C. courthouse on Monday threw a late-in-the-game curve-ball for companies preparing to issue their first conflict minerals disclosures and reports by May 31.
In a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Senior Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph ruled that the National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce were correct to claim, in a lawsuit filed in October 2012, that a requirement by the Securities and Exchange Commission that companies report products that may not be conflict-free on their own websites is unconstitutional and compelled speech could cause “irreparable First Amendment harm.”
