We’d like to think that our post critical of the SEC’s list of public companies doing business in Syria, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea, and Iran had something to do with the SEC’s decision to remove the list from its website. But, in all honesty, we’ll have to admit that a storm of protest from more important people on the Hill was more likely the cause.

The SEC press release announcing the removal of the list made clear that the list hadn’t been killed but, instead, was undergoing surgery:

We are temporarily suspending the availability of the web tool while it undergoes reconstruction. We will work to improve the web tool so that it meets the various concerns that have been expressed.

It’s not clear how the list can be fixed unless it is transformed from a list that compiles companies that mention sanctioned countries in their filings to one in which the SEC staff exercises discretion to cull the bad companies doing bad things in the sanctioned countries from the good companies that have more innocuous connections to the sanctioned countries. Traditionally, the SEC has been disinclined to engage in such a function, preferring that company disclosures speak for themselves.

Some other interesting facts can be found in the press release. First, the list was enormously popular, receiving 150,000 hits over approximately three weeks. We get about 8,000 hits in three weeks — about 400 per day — so our board is going to meet in our world headquarters this weekend to consider putting the SEC list back up on this site. That’s a joke, of course. Please don’t send any threatening emails.

Also, the press release indicated that the countries clicked on were, in descending order, Iran, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea and Syria. Frankly, I’m surprised that people were more concerned about who was doing business in Cuba than in North Korea or Sudan, but maybe a bunch of people were clicking through Cuba looking for an Internet source for Cuban cigars.

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Copyright © 2007 Clif Burns. All Rights Reserved.
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