In a letter submitted...to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White, more than 500 civil society organizations from 40 countries urged the commission to swiftly reissue a strong implementing rule for Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 1504 requires all oil, gas and mining companies listed on a US stock exchange to publish what they pay to governments of countries in which they operate. Last year, a lawsuit filed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) resulted in the implementing rule, released in August 2012, having to be reissued before the law can come into effect...Because of opacity in the extractives sector, natural resource revenues have often been misused or squandered instead of serving as a basis to transform economies and advance human development...The potential of this sector, if properly managed, should not be underestimated. Leading oil, gas and mining companies have endorsed these laws, and investors worth $5.6 trillion have called on the SEC to release strong rules as soon as possible.