Harry Clark, Chair of Orrick's International Trade & Compliance Group in Washington, D.C., recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] regarding the decision by U.S. lawmakers to gut and replace a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule requiring oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments.
Harry recommended that companies not stop efforts to document payments to foreign governments until it's certain the reporting requirements are definitively eliminated. A federal statute requires the SEC to issue a replacement rule within a year; however, it is likely that any rule put forward under the Trump administration will be "more straightforward and less onerous" on oil, gas, and mining companies. Harry concluded, "They're unlikely to make things more challenging."
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