A New SEC Mandate Punishes Big Oil

The SEC recently accepted section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank act, requiring companies to disclose payments they make to foreign nations. This rule is supposed to make business transactions with foreign governments more transparent, similar to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which is already in place. International oil and gas companies that are registered with the SEC will be required to obey this law, with most in the industry crying foul, as this new legislation will put them at a competitive disadvantage. Check out the following video, as Fool.com analyst Joel South discusses a few reasons that big oil believes this will affect their business.

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The article A New SEC Mandate Punishes Big Oil originally appeared on Fool.com.

Austin Smith and Joel South have no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Chevron and Total SA. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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