Republican members on the House Financial Services Committee have proposed a repeal of section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act and therefore a repeal of the US’s conflict minerals reporting rules. The proposal is included in a draft of the Financial CHOICE [Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs] Act.

According to the House Committee’s analysis, the committee asserts that the rules have been “overly burdensome” on industry and have done more harm than good (Note: several other organizations disagree with these conclusions). From the executive summary of the analysis:

Title   XV   of   the   Dodd-Frank   Act   imposes   a   number   of   overly   burdensome   disclosure  requirements  related  to  conflict  minerals,  extractive  industries,  and  mine  safety  that  bear  no  rational  relationship  to  the  SEC’s  statutory  mission  to  protect  investors,  maintain  fair,  orderly,  and  efficient  markets,  and  promote capital formation.  The Financial CHOICE Act repeals those requirements.  There  is  overwhelming  evidence  that  Dodd Frank’s  conflict  minerals  disclosure requirement has done far more harm than good to  its intended beneficiaries – the citizens  of  the Democratic  Republic  of  Congo  and  neighboring  Central  African countries.

A discussion draft of the Bill is available on the House website.

As if the proposed Bill to repeal the conflict minerals rule isn’t enough, the House of Representatives has approved an appropriations Bill  containing an amendment that would defund enforcement of the SEC’s conflict minerals rule.

Amendment 34 to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2017 (HR 5485) was introduced by Representative Bill Huizenga (R-Michigan), chairman of the House Financial Services Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. It states that no funds appropriated by the bill could be used to “implement, administer, or enforce” provisions in section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

An overview of the Bill and the amendment to defund 1502 enforcement are available on the House website.

Not surprisingly, NGOs are protesting the proposal.