The Securities and Exchange Commission pushed out five more rule proposals in its last open meeting of the year in an effort to fulfill its Dodd-Frank Act mandate.

The Commission voted on Dec. 15 to publish five more rule proposals stemming from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act for comment. Two of the proposals relate to the mandatory clearing of security-based swaps and end-user exception to the clearing rules. The other three proposals deal with specialized disclosures about conflict minerals, mine safety and payments to U.S. and foreign governments made by resource extraction companies.

The Dodd- Frank Act requires the mandatory clearing of most swaps, including most security-based swaps which come under the purview of the SEC. The law also provides an exemption from mandatory clearing for certain end-users that are non-financial entities using a swap to hedge or mitigate commercial risk.

One rule proposal details how a clearing agency will submit information to the SEC about a security-based swap it plans to accept for clearing, establishes a procedure for the Commission to stay the clearing requirement in certain cases, and requires a clearing agency to provide advance notice to the SEC before it makes certain changes to its rules that could materially affect the nature or level of risk it presents. The second proposed rule lays out the steps end-users must take to notify the SEC of how they generally meet their financial obligations when engaging in a security-based swap transaction that is exempt from the mandatory clearing requirement. Among other things, the SEC is seeking comment on whether small banks, savings associations, farm credit system institutions and credit unions with total assets under $10 billion, should be allowed to use the end-user clearing exception. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is writing similar rules for all other swaps. Comments on the two security-based swaps related proposals are due 45 days after their publication in the Federal Register.

Under a proposal to implement Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank, companies would be required to disclose in their annual reports with the SEC if they use conflict minerals that originate from the Congo as an essential component in the products they manufacture. SEC chairman Mary Schapiro noted in her remarks that conflict minerals are used in a wide range of products, from jewelry to cell phones to jet engines. A proposal to implement Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires mining companies to include information about mine safety and health standards in their annual and quarterly reports filed with the Commission, and to file a Form 8-K when they receive certain notices from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The final proposal implements Section 1504 of Dodd-Frank, and requires resource extraction issuers to report annually to the SEC on payments they and their subsidiaries make to the U.S. government of to foreign governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals, including taxes, royalties, license fees, production entitlements and bonuses. Comments on the three specialized disclosure proposals are due by Jan. 31