Dodd-Frank Act - Title XV: Miscellaneous Provisions

Restrictions on use of United States funds for foreign Governments; protection of American taxpayers

The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund to evaluate, prior to consideration by the Board of Executive Directors of the Fund, any proposal submitted to the Board for the Fund to make a loan to a country if:

• the amount of the public debt of the country exceeds the gross domestic product of the country as of  the most recent year for which such information is available;
• the country is not eligible for assistance from the International Development Association.

If any such evaluation indicates that the proposed loan is not likely to be repaid in full, the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at the Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose the proposal.

Within 30 days after the Board of Executive Directors of the Fund approves a proposal described

For the duration of any program approved under such proposals, the Secretary of the Treasury shall report in writing to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate assessing the likelihood that loans made pursuant to such proposals will be repaid in full, including:

• the borrowing country’s current debt status, including, to the extent possible, its maturity structure, whether it has fixed or floating rates, whether it is indexed, and by whom
• it is held
• the borrowing country’s external and internal vulnerabilities that could potentially affect its ability to repay
• the borrowing country’s debt management strategy

Sense of congress on exploitation and trade of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

It is the sense of Congress that the exploitation and trade of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is helping to finance conflict characterized by extreme levels of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ,particularly sexual- and gender-based violence, and contributing to an emergency humanitarian situation therein, warranting the provisions of section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission

shall promulgate regulations requiring any person described in paragraph (2) to disclose annually, beginning with the person’s first full fiscal year that begins after the date of promulgation of such regulations, whether conflict minerals that are necessary ,for which such reporting is required,

did originate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country and, in cases in which such conflict minerals did originate in any such country, submit to the Commission a report that includes, with respect to the period covered by the report:

• a description of the measures taken by the person to exercise due diligence on the source and

• chain of custody of such minerals, which measures shall include an independent private sector audit of such report submitted through the Commission that is conducted in accordance with standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of State.

• a description of the products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured that are not DRC conflict free (‘DRC conflict free’ is defined to mean the products that do not contain minerals that directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country), the entity that conducted the independent private sector audit in accordance with clause (i), the facilities used to process the conflict minerals, the country of origin of the conflict minerals, and the efforts to determine the mine or location of origin with the greatest possible specificity.

Certification

The person submitting a report shall certify the audit that is included in such report. Such a certified audit shall constitute a critical component of due diligence in establishing the source and chain of custody of such minerals.

Unreliable Determination

If a report required to be submitted by a person under relies on a determination of an independent private sector audit,or other due diligence processes previously determined by the Commission to be unreliable, the report shall not satisfy the requirements of the regulations.

DRC Conflict Free

A product may be labeled as ‘DRC conflict free’ if the product does not contain conflict minerals that directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country.

Information available to the public. Each person shall make available to the public on the Internet website of such person the information disclosed by such person.

Strategy and map to address linkages between conflict minerals and armed groups

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State,

in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to address the linkages between human rights abuses, armed groups, mining of conflict minerals, and commercial products.

The strategy shall include the following:

A plan to promote peace and security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by supporting efforts of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the Ministry of Mines and other relevant agencies, adjoining countries, and the international community, in particular the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, to:

• monitor and stop commercial activities involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that contribute to the activities  of armed groups and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• stronger governance and economic institutions that can facilitate and improve transparency in the cross-border trade involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reduce exploitation by armed groups and promote local and regional development.
• A plan to provide guidance to commercial entities seeking to exercise due diligence on and formalize the origin and chain of custody of conflict minerals used in their products and on their suppliers to ensure that conflict minerals used in the products of such suppliers do not directly or indirectly finance armed conflict or result in labor or human rights violations.
• A description of punitive measures that could be taken against individuals or entities whose commercial activities are supporting armed groups and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Map

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State

shall, in accordance with the recommendation of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their December 2008 report:

• produce a map of mineral-rich zones, trade routes, and areas under the control of armed groups
• in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries based on data from multiple sources, including
  • the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
  • the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the governments of adjoining countries, and the governments of other Member States of the United Nations
  • local and international nongovernmental organizations;
• make such map available to the public
• provide to the appropriate congressional committees an explanatory note describing the sources
• of information from which such map is based and the identification, where possible, of the armed groups or other forces in control of the mines depicted.

Designation

The map required shall be known as the ‘‘Conflict Minerals Map’’ ,and mines located in areas under the control of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries, as depicted on such Conflict Minerals Map, shall be known as ‘‘Conflict Zone Mines’’.

Updates

The Secretary of State shall update the map required not less frequently than once every 180 days.

Publication in Federal Agency

The Secretary of State shall add minerals to the list of minerals in the definition of conflict minerals under section 1502, as appropriate. The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register notice of intent to declare a mineral as a conflict mineral included in such definition not later than one year before such declaration.

Reports

Baseline Report

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter until the termination of the disclosure requirements under section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to appropriate congressional committees a report that includes an assessment of the rate of sexual- and gender-based violence in war-torn areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries.

Regular Report on Effectiveness

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following:

An assessment of the effectiveness of section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as added by subsection (b), in promoting peace and security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries.

• A description of issues encountered by the Securities and Exchange Commission in carrying out the provisions of such section 13(p).
• A general review of persons described in clause (ii) and whether information is publicly available about:
• the use of conflict minerals by such persons
• whether such conflict minerals originate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining
• country.

Report on Private Sector Auditing

Not later than 30 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following:

An assessment of the accuracy of the independent private sector audits and other due diligence processes described under section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Recommendations for the processes used to carry out such audits, including ways to:

(i) improve the accuracy of such audits; and

(ii) establish standards of best practices.

Disclosure

Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Commission shall issue final rules that require each resource extraction issuer to include in an annual report of the resource extraction issuer information relating to any payment made by the resource extraction issuer, a subsidiary of the resource extraction issuer, or an entity under the control of the resource extraction issuer to a foreign government or the Federal Government for the purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals, including:

• the type and total amount of such payments made for each project of the resource extraction issuer relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals; and
• the type and total amount of such payments made to each government.

Interactive Data Format

The rules issued under shall establish an interactive data standard for the information included in the annual report of a resource extraction issuer.

The interactive data standard shall include electronic tags that identify, for any payments made by a resource extraction issuer to a foreign government or the Federal Government:

• the total amounts of the payments, by category;
• the currency used to make the payments;
• the financial period in which the payments were made;
• the business segment of the resource extraction issuer that made the payments;
• the government that received the payments, and the country in which the government is located;

International Transparency Efforts

To the extent practicable, the rules issued under subparagraph shall support the commitment of the Federal Government to international transparency promotion efforts relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals.

Public Availability of Information

To the extent practicable, the Commission shall make available online, to the public, a compilation of the information required to be submitted under the rules.

Study by the Comptroller General

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States

shall issue a report assessing the relative independence, effectiveness, and expertise of presidentially appointed inspectors general and inspectors general of designated Federal entities, as such term is defined under section 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978, and the effects on independence of the amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978 made by this Act.

Study on Core Deposits and Brokered Deposits

The Corporation shall conduct a study to evaluate:

• the definition of core deposits for the purpose of calculating the insurance premiums of banks;
• the potential impact on the Deposit Insurance Fund of revising the definitions of brokered deposits and core deposits to better distinguish between them;
• an assessment of the differences between core deposits and brokered deposits and their role in the economy and banking sector of the United States;
• the potential stimulative effect on local economies of redefining core deposits
• the competitive parity between large institutions and community banks that could result from redefining core deposits.

Report to Congress

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Corporation shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on the results of the study under subsection (a) that includes legislative recommendations, if any, to address concerns arising in connection with the definitions of core deposits and brokered deposits.