UANI Applauds Introduction of the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2011
Contact: Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296


UANI Applauds Introduction of the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011


New York, NY United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauds Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL), Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) for introducing the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011 ("ITAA").  The ITAA would require companies that avail themselves of the U.S. capital markets to disclose the business they conduct in Iran in their U.S. regulatory filings.  Such disclosure would allow the U.S. Government as well as the American people to make informed decisions about the companies in which they choose to invest. 

This legislation is a natural complement to the Iran Comprehensive Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 ("CISADA").  UANI worked closely with Congressman Deutch to develop this legislation, which was originally introduced in July in the 111th Congress.  During the press conference today held to announce the introduction of the legislation, Congressman Deutch stated that the ITAA was introduced "in collaboration with the great work of Ambassador Mark Wallace and his group, United Against Nuclear Iran, who has been making the case for some time now that material business in Iran should be subject to disclosure."
 
UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, in a statement said:  

UANI applauds Congressman Deutch for introducing the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act.  It is time for companies to come clean about their inappropriate business in Iran, and when they do the American people will hold them accountable.  Under this legislation and action by the SEC, companies will, for the first time, be obligated to disclose their Iran business in their public regulatory filings.  We will now know which companies are profiting at the expense of American national security.  This legislation is a wake-up call to those corporations that continue to do business in Iran.

 

UANI has been at the forefront of the campaign to require companies to disclose their business in Iran.  On January 12, 2010, UANI launched the "Iran Disclosure Project," an initiative to identify publicly-traded companies that have business dealings in Iran and ensure that such companies adequately inform investors of the legal and financial peril associated with such dealings.  Through the Iran Disclosure Project, UANI has pressured such companies as Royal Dutch Shell, Caterpillar, Ingersoll Rand, KPMG, and Honeywell to disclose the full extent of their business in Iran. 
 
In May, UANI called on the SEC to take definitive action to require companies to disclose their Iran business.  UANI proposed two options that would allow the SEC to take such definitive action: a staff interpretative release or a new SEC regulation.  In July, UANI worked with Congressman Deutch to introduce similar legislation during the 111th Congress.

Click here to learn more about the Iran Disclosure Project.
Click here to read UANI's proposed SEC regulation.
Click here to urge your Members of Congress to pass the ITAA.

 

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