GAO Issues Annual Report Showing Only Slight Progress in Disclosures on Conflict Minerals

May 2, 2017 | Cydney Posner
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The GAO has recently issued its third annual report on conflict minerals. The GAO is required by Dodd-Frank to report annually on the effectiveness of the SEC’s conflict minerals rule in promoting peace and security in the DRC and adjoining countries, as well as on the rate of sexual violence in war-torn areas of the covered countries. One sentence in the report says it all: “Our review of companies’ conflict minerals disclosures filed with SEC in 2016 found that, in general, they were similar to disclosures filed in prior years.” In light of the provision in the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 that would repeal the Dodd-Frank conflict minerals mandate, one has to wonder if this will be the GAO’s last report on the topic.