Comments on Draft Rules Due Jan/31/2011
This week the SEC presented its draft rules on a number of provisions to the Finance Reform Act. The full draft rules make a number of references to our multistakeholder recommendations that we submitted mid-November. New comments to the draft rules have to be received by January 31st.
And we thought we were going to get some rest over the holiday break!
Final rules were scheduled to come out on April 15, 2011 but they were just moved by the SEC to their Aug - Dec 2011 time frame for implementing activity.
Some companies are anxious for the final rules to be issued since they will have to start tracking where their minerals originate with their first fiscal year after the rules are issued (which for many is January 1st), while others think this might help buy time to implement needed certifcation schemes on the ground in the Congo so “responsible” minerals can still flow out of the region.
Although there is strong industry support to rectify the situation and ensure mineral exports are not contributing to rape and violence in the region, it is a bit complicated to determine the best time for hard deadlines to be mandated.