Conflict Mineral Rule Requires Deep Audits, As Deadline Looms

The conflict mineral disclosure rule has a far wider reach than many at first understood. With a May deadline approaching, some companies have found they need to audit their entire supply chain back to “the smelter level.” And although the SEC disclosure mandate applies only to public companies, those companies in turn will require their private company suppliers to make their own certifications, bringing the number of companies needing to do audits into the tens of thousands. The SEC itself, according to an article from the plastics industry, has estimated total initial compliance costs to be in the billions of dollars.