On Aug. 22, 2012, under a mandate of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a rule requiring issuers to disclose their use of tantalum, tin, gold, or tungsten – defined as conflict minerals – if those minerals are “necessary to the functionality or production of a product” manufactured by that issuer. The intent of the conflict minerals rule is to cut off funding to armed groups responsible for extreme violence and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The attainment of this goal, however, may come at a steep price to a large group of listed companies as well as public and private companies in their supply chain.

Crowe provides guidance to companies seeking an effective, efficient, and comprehensive solution to the challenges presented by conflict minerals investigations and disclosure. This Web page offers explanatory literature as well as links to helpful industry, government, technology, and community sources of compliance guidance.