Tag: GAO report
In new GAO report, some distressing news about SEC’s conflict minerals rules and violence in DRC
“Conflict Minerals—Peace and Security in Democratic Republic of the Congo Have Not Improved with SEC Disclosure Rule.” That is the title of the final required report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the last of 17 reports provided in response to the statutory mandate of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. As you probably know, the SEC’s conflict minerals rules were originally mandated by Congress in Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank in an attempt to limit the use of revenue from the trade in conflict minerals to fund the operations of armed groups that have wreaked violence in the DRC and adjoining countries. Under Dodd-Frank, the GAO is required to assess periodically the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rules in promoting peace and security in the DRC region. While the blunt conclusions of this year’s report are, to say the least, very discouraging—even devastating—on so many levels, they should not come as a complete surprise: in 2022, the GAO also reported that the violence in the DRC had not abated: “overall peace and security in the region has not improved since 2014 because of persistent, interdependent factors that fuel violence by non-state armed groups.” (See this PubCo post.) But that assessment was not showcased in the title as it is this year. This time, as Liz Dunshee so aptly phrased it on thecorporatecounsel.net, the report “did not bury the lede.” This year, the GAO found that, not only had the rule not curtailed the level of violence in the DRC, in some areas, the rule was actually associated with a spread of violence. That is, if the report’s findings are accurate, not only are we not helping the problem; in some contexts, such as gold mining, we’re actually exacerbating it. It’s worth noting that, as the GAO reports, the “SEC disagreed with some of GAO’s findings and raised concerns about some of its methodology and analyses. In response, GAO made certain adjustments that did not materially affect its findings.” Will the disturbing conclusions of the report propel Congress to reexamine Section 1502?
GAO reports on conflict minerals compliance in 2022
The GAO has just issued its 2022 Report on Conflict Minerals, which examines companies’ conflict minerals compliance in 2022. As you probably know, the SEC’s conflict minerals rules were originally mandated by Congress in an attempt to limit the use of revenue from the trade in conflict minerals to fund the operations of armed groups in the DRC and adjoining countries. Under Dodd-Frank, the GAO is required to assess periodically the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rules in promoting peace and security in the DRC region. Are the SEC’s rules having any impact? Based on this report, it seems that the violence in the DRC has not abated: “overall peace and security in the eastern DRC has not improved since 2014 because of persistent, interdependent factors that fuel violence by non-state armed groups.” In 2020, the GAO reports, about 122 armed groups operated in the region, using revenue from the trade in conflict minerals as one source of funding. Experts view corruption as a contributing factor. The GAO observes that, in 2022, “armed groups continue to raise revenue from various sources, such as illegal taxation on citizens and the exploitation of natural resources,” such as conflict minerals.
GAO finds lack of consistency in ESG disclosure—how will the SEC respond?
In 2018, in recognition of the increasing expectation of shareholders to see disclosure regarding material environmental, social and governance issues that affect financial performance and communities, Senator Mark Warner asked the GAO to prepare a report on public company disclosure regarding ESG. That report has now been issued. According to Warner, “[m]ost institutional investors find current company financial disclosures limited in their usefulness, and augment company disclosures through burdensome engagement with the company, purchasing third party compilation data, or initiating shareholder proposals. It is time for the SEC to establish a task force to establish a robust set of quantifiable and comparable ESG metrics that all public companies can adhere to.” Although SEC Chair Jay Clayton has acknowledged “the growing drumbeat for ESG reporting standards,” he has made clear his lack of enthusiasm for imposing a prescriptive sustainability disclosure requirement that goes beyond principles-based materiality. (See, e.g., this PubCo post and this PubCo post.) Will the SEC address the drumbeat?
GAO issues annual report on conflict minerals filings
Under Dodd-Frank, the GAO is required to assess annually the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rules in promoting peace and security and to report on the rate of sexual violence in the DRC and adjoining countries. Recently, the GAO released its annual report submitted to Congress on conflict mineral disclosures filed with the SEC in 2018. The report is based on a random sample of 100 Forms SD, interviews with company representatives, DRC officials and other stakeholders, as well as reviews of government reports and fieldwork conducted at an industry conference. Any big changes? Not really. But, interestingly, in the GAO sample, only two companies indicated that they relied on Corp Fin’s 2017 guidance (discussed below) to avoid filing a conflict minerals report or providing an independent private-sector audit. With the 2017 guidance apparently not having much impact, is a revision of the conflict minerals rules to address the impact of the litigation (which held that the requirements violated the First Amendment) even a twinkle in the staff’s eye at this point?
Board gender diversity reaches a new milestone
As reported by the WSJ, a new milestone has finally been reached for board gender diversity: there are no longer any companies in the S&P 500 with all-male boards!
Reaching just that one milestone has not exactly been expeditious. According to the WSJ, one in eight S&P 500 boards was all male in 2012. In 2019, women hold 27% of all S&P 500 board seats, up from 17% in 2012—certainly an improvement, but still far from anyone’s idea of gender parity. Progress seems to be even slower among companies in the Russell 3000 where, the WSJ reports, as of the first quarter of 2019, 376 companies still had all-male boards (19.3% women overall), reflecting a decrease from 457 in the fourth quarter of 2018 (18.5% women).
GAO issues annual report on conflict minerals filings in 2017
Under Dodd-Frank, the GAO is required to assess annually the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rules in promoting peace and security and to report on the rate of sexual violence in the DRC and adjoining countries. The GAO has released its annual study on conflict mineral disclosures filed with the SEC in 2017. The report is based on a random sample of 100 Forms SD, interviews with company representatives and other stakeholders.
GAO report on gold supply chain reveals little progress in responsible sourcing
The GAO has issued a new report on conflict minerals focused in this instance on the supply chain for artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) gold in the DRC region. The report also addressed efforts to encourage responsible sourcing of ASM gold and sexual violence in the region since the GAO’s last report in August 2016.
GAO issues annual report showing only slight progress in disclosures on conflict minerals
by Cydney Posner The GAO has recently issued its third annual report on conflict minerals. The GAO is required by Dodd-Frank to report annually on the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rule in promoting peace and security in the DRC and adjoining countries (the “covered countries”) as well as […]
GAO issues second annual conflict minerals report
by Cydney Posner The GAO has issued its annual conflict minerals report to Congress, entitled “Companies Face Continuing Challenges in Determining Whether Their Conflict Minerals Benefit Armed Groups.” The GAO is required to report annually on the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rule in promoting peace and security in […]
New GAO report on conflict minerals compliance
by Cydney Posner By coincidence, the same day that the three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit struck down (again) a portion of the conflict minerals rule (see this post), the GAO issued a report to Congressional Committees entitled “SEC CONFLICT MINERALS RULE Initial Disclosures Indicate Most Companies Were Unable to […]
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