ONE Disappointed by District Court Decision to Vacate SEC Extractives Rule

WASHINGTON (July 2, 2013) – In response to the decision reached by the District Court for the District of Columbia in American Petroleum Institute et al vs. Securities and Exchange Commission, relating to the SEC rule issued to enact the Cardin-Lugar amendment (Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act), which mandates disclosure of payments made to foreign government for the exploitation of oil, gas and minerals, Michael Elliott, President and CEO of The ONE Campaign said:

“We are extremely disappointed by the decision reached today by the District Court to vacate the SEC’s rule and remand to the Commission for further proceedings. But we are confident that the decision represents only a short detour from the progress that is being made in efforts – around the world – to promote transparency and accountability in the extractives sector and protect investors.

We note that the Court is saying no more than that the Commission should exercise its discretion and provide a fuller analysis for its rulemaking. Nonetheless, we strongly disagree with the conclusions of the Court and believe the SEC interpreted the law correctly when drafting its rule.

This fight is not over, and it will end with a strong rule on the books to implement the Cardin-Lugar amendment. A transparency revolution is sweeping the world. The revolution makes it easier for citizens in developing nations to see where revenues from extractive industries are going; makes it harder to hide corrupt gains from lawful scrutiny; and provides a healthy and predictable environment for the operations of international companies, including those from the U.S. Today’s decision threatens to undermine American leadership in that historic process.”

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About The ONE Campaign:

Co-founded by Bono and strictly bipartisan, ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization of more than three million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease… because the facts show extreme poverty has already been cut in half and can be virtually eliminated by 2030, but only if we act now.  Learn more at ONE.org.