Oil groups sue SEC over rule requiring foreign payment disclosure

News
October 11, 2012
by Collin Eaton, Reporter
 
Two oil industry trade associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have filed suit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a rule in the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, alleging in the suit that mandating public companies to disclose payments to foreign governments above $100,000 violates the First Amendment.
 
Bloomberg reports that the trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute, also said the SEC was not considering how the rule would impact companies in terms of competition, as the companies would “allow competitors access to sensitive commercial information, and to abandon projects to foreign state-owned companies in countries that forbid the disclosures,” according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 10.
 
The trade associations said the rule would cost more than $1 billion for U.S. companies, the amount estimated by the SEC. Billionaire investors Bill Gates and George Soros have both supported the rule in the past, saying it would help investors assess risk, Bloomberg reports.
 
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C.