Subject to risks and uncertainties, here’s our new IRO
HERE’s a great example of “over-disclaimering,” which is the senseless practice of slapping disclaimers on things that don’t need them. The most common example is when companies include disclaimers about forward-looking statements (FLS) in news releases that don’t include any forward-looking statements. Sometimes the disclaimer portion of the news release is longer than the information [...]
Proof no one reads disclaimers
WHY do we bother with disclaimers on investor disclosures and investor relations websites? No one reads them. Not even the companies that try to shelter themselves behind them. Look at the disclaimer in the screenshot below. It’s from a consensus earnings estimates page on a Thomson Financial-hosted investor relations website. You’ve probably seen the same [...]
We don’t need PR wires for Reg. FD
PROPONENTS of changing the information distribution requirements of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg. FD) say the world is ready to receive disclosures direct via companies’ websites rather than via intermediaries like news release distributors. As evidence, they point to widespread adoption of the Internet and email by investors, plus the availability of new highly economical syndication [...]
Cox: New pay disclosures ‘overlawyered’
LAST week, IR Web Report published results of our snap survey of the readability of 40 companies’ new executive pay discussions. We found that the average compensation discussion and analysis section in firms’ most recent proxy statements has the same readability level as a Harvard Law Journal article. They probably would not be understood by [...]