Congress Rolls Back SEC Resource Extraction Payments Rule

The review of financial regulation under the new administration has its first victim.

On February 3, the Senate passed a resolution under the Congressional Review Act that disapproves the SEC’s rule on resource extraction payments. The House of Representatives had already passed the resolution, so the SEC’s rule is no longer in effect.   

The target of the joint resolution is a rule requiring each SEC reporting company engaged in commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals to file annual disclosures on payments it makes to governments.  The rule has already had a tortured history, which left it vulnerable to action under the Congressional Review Act.