On December 16, 2020, the SEC adopted rules intended to achieve the statutory objective of increasing the transparency of payments to governments for the purpose of the commercial development of their oil, natural gas, and minerals by enforcing Section 13(q) of the Exchange Act. Added to the Exchange Act in 2010 by Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Section 13(q) instructed the SEC to issue final rules that require resource extraction issuers (entities such as oil, natural gas, and mining companies that are required to file reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) annually to file a Form SD that includes information about payments that are made to the federal government or a foreign government related to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals. Continue reading "SEC Approves Final Rules for the Disclosure of..." »