Corporate Governance

The SEC, Social Responsibility, and Conflict Minerals: Crossing the Disclosure Rubicon (Part 3a)

By J Robert Brown Jr.

The SEC has encouraged public companies to use web sites but has stopped short of requiring the practice.  Web sites are, therefore, largely unregulated, although they are subject to the antifraud provisions. 

Section 13(p) of the Exchange Act, however, requires Internet posting of information about the use of conflict minerals.  As such, it effectively imposes a mandatory obligation on the part of public companies using those materials to develop and maintain a web site.

It may be the case that all public companies have a web site.  Nonetheless, this is a rare instance where the behavior is not volitional but mandatory.   

Full post as published by The Race to the Bottom on December 30, 2010 (boomark / email).