Conflict Mineral Disclosure Requirement Partially Struck Down

Monday’s appeals court ruling about the SEC’s conflict mineral disclosure rule has thrown into question exactly what will need to be reported and how, as the deadline for those companies that need to report is fast approaching. (The deadline was May 31, but it was extended until June 2 because the May deadline falls on a Saturday.) Initial media and trade group reports about the split decision, from a panel of the D.C. Circuit, come to a fairly wide range of conclusions about what it means, but Dinsmore & Shohl attorneys David Lavan and Andrew Gammill advise that companies that were required to report proceed for now under the assumption that is still the case. “SEC guidance over the next few days or weeks may address the SEC Staff’s view regarding how this decision will affect the content,” they write. “For now, companies would be prudent to assume that they must still file a significant report by this year’s deadline.”