SEC will try to rework vacated foreign payment disclosure rule

The US Securities and Exchange Commission won’t appeal a July 2 federal court decision vacating a requirement that would have made publicly traded US oil and gas companies disclose payments made to foreign governments. “The court remanded the matter for further SEC proceedings, which the commission will undertake informed by the court’s decision,” a spokesman said.

US oil and gas firms legally challenged the requirement outlined in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Protection Act’s Section 1504 because they believed it would give foreign competitors not subject to it an unfair competitive advantage. The US District Court for the District of Columbia agreed and ruled in their favor (OGJ Online, July 2, 2013).

“US companies are leading the way to increase transparency, and we look forward to working with the SEC to rewrite the rule in a way that recognizes these existing efforts without harming the competitiveness of American businesses,” an American Petroleum Institute spokesman said on Sept. 4.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].