SEC rejects energy industry's plea to delay disclosure rules

The rules are an outgrowth of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation and were designed to increase transparency over how American companies gain access to minerals, oils and gas in impoverished countries, especially in Africa, where pay-to-play corruption and violent conflict are intertwined with business.

The industry groups say they support increased transparency, but that the SEC regulations go too in putting their companies at a disadvantage by disclosing corporate secrets to competitors like state-owned companies from Russia, China and the Middle East.