Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law in 2010, directed the SEC to issue rules requiring resource extraction issuers to report annually on payments made to governments. In August 2012, the SEC adopted a final rule implementing Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, but in July 2013 the SEC rule was vacated by US federal courts. The SEC has yet to propose a new rule implementing "publish what you pay" reporting under Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
On 2 September 2015, in an action brought by Oxfam America, Inc. to compel the SEC to issue a final resource extraction issuer disclosure rule, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered the SEC to an expedited schedule for promulgating a final rule. In its ruling, the court stated that it would retain jurisdiction over the rulemaking process so as to ensure compliance with its order.
On 2 October 2015, the SEC filed with the court a notice of its proposed expedited rulemaking schedule, in which it has endeavoured to adopt a final rule by 27 June 2016. The SEC plans to hold a vote on a proposed rule before the end of this year, following which members of the public will have a period of at least 45 days to submit comments. The SEC cautioned that this 270-day schedule is aggressive and that there are many reasons why the rulemaking may be further delayed.
The District Court's order is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-mad-1_14-cv-13648/pdf/USCOURTS-mad-1_14-cv-13648-0.pdf.
Our recent client publication, which provides an overview of the status of "publish what you pay" regulation in the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia, is available at: http://www.shearman.com/en/newsinsights/publications/2015/05/shining-a-light-on-payments-to-governments.
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