SEC's new guidance for websites and blogs posted
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published its 47-page interpretive release that explains how companies can use their websites and blogs to meet its requirements for public disclosure under Regulation FD. Here’s a Scribd version of the complete release, which can also be downloaded in PDF from the SEC’s website. See my initial [...]
How to fix e-proxy
A WEEK ago, I called the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) notice-and-access process for delivering annual meeting materials on the web “one gigantic flop from an investor protection perspective.” I think it’s worth beating that drum a little louder in light of the latest statistics from Broadridge Financial Solutions showing a sharp drop in [...]
Is there a disclosure issue here?
TAKE a look at these news releases put out this week by two New York Stock Exchange-listed companies about awards they’ve received for their investor relations websites and their disclosure practices. The first is from Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligents SA, the airline firm listed on the NYSE under the symbol GOL. SAO PAULO, Brazil, April [...]
Business Wire fumbles error on its blog
AS MORE companies add blogs and other social media tools to their online communications, knowing how to handle errors in posts has become an important practice point. Business Wire (BW) is one company that hasn’t yet learned how to do this properly. And that’s a problem because part of BW’s business is advising companies and [...]
Talking about transparency
I WAS interviewed for 45 minutes last Friday by well-known communications consultant Shel Holz for a book he is co-authoring on the topic of “practical transparency.” Shel is one of the thought leaders on the topic of communications and technology. He has written and spoken about it extensively over the years, in various books, reports, [...]
NIRI members' discontent posted on Web
ABOUT eight months ago, I let my membership of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) expire. I wasn’t happy with the direction of the organization, and I felt that being a member would restrict me from speaking my mind about it on this blog if I wanted to. Since then, however, I’ve kept my mouth [...]
Earnings releases — the Warren Buffett way
WHILE his competitors lavish huge fees on his PR wire service, frugal billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is being thrifty by keeping its earnings releases short and referring investors to complete disclosures on the company’s website. Ironically, management at Business Wire, acquired by Buffett in March 2006, has argued vehemently against other companies following its [...]
Investors' new insight on mergers — employee bloggers
THE spotty success rate of mergers and acquisitions in creating shareholder value has long dogged investors who must try to decide whether a proposed acquisition by a company they own makes sense. But with the advent of employee bloggers on the open Internet, especially those who work for leading technology companies, investors may be getting [...]
Yahoo!'s latest inspiration: snail mail
I THOUGHT I wouldn’t have to write about the Microsoft-Yahoo! takeover saga again after likening the investor relations communications around it to watching two drunks wobbling and slurring their way through a back alley rumble. But I can’t resist. A couple of hours ago, the great Web pioneer and innovator that is Yahoo! fired off [...]
Microsoft, Yahoo! IR teams drop ball amid bid
IF YOU’RE a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholder, you’ve probably heard the news — thanks in no part to the companies’ investor relations departments. Yes, on February 1, 2008 Microsoft proposed to acquire Yahoo! for $31 per share, apparently comprised of half cash and half Microsoft shares, or something like that. [...]
Yahoo! Finance has lost its way
Yahoo! Finance, once the clear leader in finance portals, has been neglected to the point where it is in danger of becoming irrelevant.
Canada's good governance hypocrites
CORPORATE governance advocates around the world were stunned earlier this month when a powerful group of Canadian institutional investors said it would not support a say-on-pay regime for the country’s corporations. The announcement by the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), which represents 49 of Canada’s leading institutional investors with over $1 trillion in assets, [...]
NIRI survey predicts 56% e-proxy adoption
A National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) survey that finds 56% of respondents plan to use the new default web delivery option for their annual reports and proxy statements in 2008, but that may be optimistic.
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