US District Court Upholds SEC Conflict Minerals Disclosure Rule

On July 23, 2013, the US District Court for the District of Columbia (District Court) upheld the rule adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2012 to implement certain disclosure requirements for US reporting issuers that use conflict minerals originating in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo[1]. The SEC had adopted that rule as required by section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act), passed by the US Congress in 2010. As adopted, the rule applies to all US reporting issuers, including any Canadian companies that are reporting issuers in the United States under the SEC's rules.

Following the adoption of the conflict minerals disclosure rule, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, and the Business Roundtable filed a complaint in US federal court[2] against the SEC challenging various aspects of the rule as