Last week, US President Barack Obama [official website] signed [JURIST report] the Restoring Financial Stability Act [HR 4173 materials] into law. The legislation, which focuses on increasing regulation in the financial sector, included a provision requiring US companies producing electronic equipment like cell phones and laptops, to divulge what steps are being taken to ensure their products do not contain "conflict minerals" from the DRC. Last year, GW published a report claiming that international corporations that purchase minerals from the DRC are responsible for prolonging the conflict [JURIST report] in the African country. The report was critical of several specific corporations, including Amalgamated Metal Corporation, Afrimex and Traxys [corporate websites], for "turning a blind-eye" to the source of minerals they purchase and then sell to manufacturers. In the war-torn country, the Congolese military and numerous militia groups control mines responsible for production of gold and wolframite, and the report alleges that the unregulated market brings significant profit to these groups [BBC report], fueling the conflict. The current conflict in the DRC has been one of the most deadly in the world, claiming an estimated 45,000 [Guardian report] lives per month.