The Hill News

When a London museum containing rare teddy bears stepped up security by hiring a Doberman pinscher guard dog, it learned about the law of unintended consequences the hard way. The dog ate the teddy bears â€" hundreds of them â€" including one formerly owned by Elvis Presley.  

The law of unintended consequences is a constant threat to businesses, and Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a perfect example. Section 1504 imposes a requirement on oil and natural gas companies listed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to publicly disclose detailed information about payments made to foreign governments in the course of their overseas operations. This could mean companies would be required to report individual payments on every single well, potentially exposing confidential, proprietary business information to global competitors. 

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