SEC Chairman Cox announced that the SEC has temporarily suspended access to its recently launched tool for verifying public companies that have investments in states known to finance terrorists. As previously reported, the list had come under criticism from Congressman Barney Frank for its inclusion of several companies that should not have been on the list. In suspending the tool, Mr. Cox noted:
To address these and related concerns, we are temporarily suspending the availability of the web tool while it undergoes reconstruction. We will work to improve the web tool so that it meets the various concerns that have been expressed. Alternatively, our staff is considering whether the use of interactive data tags applied by companies themselves could permit investors, analysts and others to easily discover this disclosure without need of an SEC-provided web tool at all. In the interim, the companies’ disclosure regarding their business contacts in the five nations will continue to be available through the SEC’s EDGAR database, and findable using our new full-text search capability.
The Commission staff will also consider whether to recommend a Concept Release on the question of how best to make public company disclosure of activities in terrorist states more accessible.
