Panel: Conflict minerals and human rights

The New York City Bar’s Committee on African Affairs cordially invites you to a panel on:

CONFLICT MINERALS and HUMAN RIGHTS:
The Dodd-Frank Act’s Reforms and Reporting Requirements

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. at the House of the Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) fuel conflict and finance armed groups committing horrendous human rights abuses. To halt this situation, Congress passed Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring the SEC to adopt rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose whether “conflict minerals” used in their products come from the DRC or an adjoining country.

If such minerals originate in the covered countries, companies must submit to the SEC an annual report describing the source and chain of custody of their “conflict minerals” (defined in the Act as columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite, or their derivatives (tin, tungsten, and tantalum)). The second annual reporting date is on June 1, 2015

The panelists will discuss the effectiveness of the legislation, the reporting required by it, and the Court of Appeals’ decision on First Amendment grounds in the litigation that upheld most of the SEC’s conflict minerals rule.

SPEAKERS

HOLLY DRANGINIS, ESQ., Policy Analyst for the Enough Project, focused on the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
MICHAEL LITTENBERG, ESQ., a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel, where he advises on the Conflict Minerals Rule and oversees SRZ’s Conflict Minerals Resource Center; and
ZORKA MILIN, ESQ., Senior Legal Adviser, Global Witness.
MODERATOR: ELIZABETH BARAD, ESQ., International Law and Gender Consultant

Co-sponsored by: Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, (Alexander Papachristou, Executive Director); Securities Regulation Committee, (Sandra Flow, Chair); Financial Reporting Committee, (Michael Young, Chair); and International Human Rights Committee, (Elisabeth Wickeri, Chair).

The program is free and open to the public.

Please RSVP to [email][email protected]