UANI Applauds the SEC for Acknowledging Need for Companies to Disclose Iran Business

July 21, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2010
Contact: Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

  UANI Applauds the SEC for Acknowledging Need for Companies to Disclose Iran Business

New York, NY -  United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauds the Securities and Exchange Commission for acknowledging the need for companies to disclose their business in Iran.  In testimony yesterday to the House Financial Services Committee, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said that "There are punitive sanctions that can be levied against companies that violate the Iran Sanctions Act," and that these sanctions "can create material contingent liabilities that need to be disclosed by public companies."  UANI renews its call for the SEC to take definitive action to require companies to disclose their Iran business. 
 
UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, in a statement said:

It is time for companies to be transparent about their business in Iran so that the American people can hold them accountable for that business.  As business in Iran is material, American investors have a right to know if they are investing in a company that does business with a state sponsor of terrorism that is subject to crippling sanctions, and therefore substantial financial risk.  Such information is also critical for ensuring that the U.S. Government can make informed decisions about the companies with which it does business.


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 targeted 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.

Click here to learn more about the Iran Disclosure Project.
Click hereto read UANI's proposed new SEC regulation.

# # #