U.S. lawmaker moves to scrap SEC's 'resource extraction' rule

By Sarah N. Lynch
| WASHINGTON

A senior U.S. lawmaker unveiled a legislative plan on Monday to scrap a rule devised under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law requiring publicly-traded mining, oil and gas companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments.

Michigan Republican Bill Huizenga, who chairs the House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, took aim at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission"s so-called "resource extraction" rule, saying it makes it harder for U.S. energies companies to compete.

The rule is championed by human rights organizations who say the disclosure of payments to foreign governments by companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron should help reduce corruption.

But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups have long opposed it, saying it puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage and fails to provide investors with meaningful, material information.

Industry groups successfully beat back the rule a few years ago and the SEC was forced to go back to the drawing board. Then, the regulator was accused in 2014 by the human rights group Oxfam of dragging its feet on completing a new draft.

A federal judge ordered the SEC to fast-track the rule in 2015, and the agency issued a final rule last summer that is set to take effect in 2018.

"The SEC continues to propose a resource extraction rule that is overly burdensome, puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage, and fails to provide investors with useful information," Huizenga said.

Huizenga"s legislative proposal would kill the resource extraction rule by using the Congressional Review Act, a largely untested law which allows Congress to use a simple majority to stop recently adopted regulations.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Tom Brown)

U.S. lawmaker moves to scrap SEC"s "resource extraction" rule
U.S. lawmaker moves to scrap SEC"s "resource extraction" rule
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