Building upon guidance issued by earlier this week by its Division of Corporation Finance, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a partial stay of its controversial conflict minerals rule. Companies will not be required to declare whether their products do, or do not, contain minerals that may benefit militias in the war-torn Congo by June 2, as was originally expected of them. They will, however, need to meet other reporting requirements.
The announcement on Friday afternoon responds to an April 14 opinion issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the case of National Association of Manufacturers v. SEC. Plaintiffs, which included the Business Roundtable and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, prevailed in their claim that requiring companies to report to the SEC and on their Web site that products are not “DRC conflict free” was compelled speech that violated First Amendment protections. The court, however, had no objection to other aspects of the required conflict minerals report and other disclosures.
