Squire Sanders Launches Conflict Minerals Blog

3 January 2013- As a complement to its expanding Conflict Minerals Practice, Squire Sanders today launched conflictmineralslaw.com, a blog addressing all aspects of compliance with the rule recently adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) governing the use of conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold) that originate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda or Zambia.

The SEC rule applies to U.S. and non-U.S. companies that are required to file reports with the Commission and that manufacture or contract to manufacture products containing conflict minerals that are necessary to the production or functionality of the product.  Conflict minerals can be found in innumerable products including mobile phones, automobiles, jewelry and portable electronic devices.

The blog will serve as a discussion forum for reporting companies undertaking due diligence and disclosure efforts to comply with the rule.  Topics of interest will include commentary on relevant conflict minerals news stories, updates regarding the recent challenge to the conflict minerals rule and guidance relating to rule compliance.

“We developed this blog to actively engage and inform our clients and others about the conflict minerals rule,” said Dynda A. Thomas, deputy leader of the Corporate Transactions, Finance & Governance Practice Group and leader of the Conflict Minerals Team.  “The rule affects countless businesses in a range of industries and our blog will be a hub of information, commentary and analysis so businesses can better understand how they will be impacted by the rule.”

In addition to this new blog, the global legal practice recently introduced a conflict minerals resource page within the global compliance solutions service area.  The page features an interactive flowchart, created by Squire Sanders and based on the SEC’s own flowchart, which provides step-by-step compliance guidance.  The conflict minerals page also contains in-depth legal analysis and a description of litigation developments pertaining to the SEC rule, which was mandated by Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 

The Squire Sanders Global Compliance Solutions group assists businesses around the world in successfully designing and implementing, across multiple regions, effective compliance programs in a way that does not impede clients from successfully driving their businesses forward.  The global legal practice’s corporate practice represents many of the Fortune 500 and FTSE 350 companies, offering extensive experience in all areas of corporate activity including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, public takeovers, initial public offerings and secondary offerings, partnership structures, private equity, venture capital, joint ventures and project support.