Ben Morgan and Garrett DeVries Pen Article for The Texas Lawbook on SEC’s Extraction Payment Rules
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The Texas Lawbook has published the article “New SEC Resource Extraction Payment Rules: Are You Prepared?” written by Akin Gump corporate counsel Ben Morgan and partner Garrett DeVries.
The article discusses a recent move by the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt new rules “requiring certain producers of oil, natural gas and minerals to publicly disclose information regarding payments to the U.S. federal government, as well as to foreign governments, to further the commercial development of such resources.” The new rules, which are required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, are “intended to combat global corruption and promote accountability.”
Morgan and DeVries talk about the types of issuers that are affected, which payments require disclosure, and how and when a disclosure must be made. They conclude by outlining the steps that Texas companies, particularly those with foreign and offshore operations, should take to prepare for the new rules:
- determine applicability
- determine whether alternative reporting is available
- assess existing systems and processes
- review confidentiality provisions
- consider potential for reputational or competitive harm.
