The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday released its long-awaited Form SD, a specialized disclosure form for reporting conflict mineral rule compliance and, once it re-proposes a rule vacated by a successful legal challenge, payments made by oil, gas, and mining companies to governments.
The conflict minerals rule, also in the midst of a legal challenge, was issued by the SEC in August 2012, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. It requires companies to disclose information each calendar year on the source of tantalum, tin, gold, and tungsten, minerals that have funded violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. Companies must conduct a “reasonable” country-of-origin inquiry to determine if the minerals originated from the covered countries; track and document the source and chain of custody; and include findings in a public report.
