Yesterday afternoon (July 23, 2013) the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia issued a decision granting an SEC motion
for summary judgment to a challenge to the far-reaching SEC
Conflict Minerals Rule (implemented pursuant to Section 1502 of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) that had
been brought by the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable. As a result,
public companies (and the private companies that do business with
them) should move forward with efforts to address the daunting
compliance challenges presented by the SEC Conflict Minerals
Rule.
The rebuffed plaintiffs had challenged the rule (1) under the
Administrative Procedure Act as being arbitrary and capricious, and
(2) as compelling speech in violation of the First Amendment to the
Constitution. In a 63-page decision, the court found "no
problems with" the Conflict Minerals Rule as promulgated by
the SEC and
