Alarm as NYSE seeks to add IR services to rulebook
IN A move that has set off alarm bells at smaller investor relations services providers, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) wants to add a new section to its rules promoting a suite of products to its listed companies.
Is SEC’s “prohibition on cookies” crimping US web reports?
FOR every new securities rule, there seems to be an unintended consequence. But one set of rules — the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) E-Proxy requirements – has had more than its fair share of negative outcomes.
Regulation Fair Disclosure: an overview
THE 90’s brought us faster computers, high-speed Internet access and online retail trading, all of which contributed to an increased awareness of the disparity between market information available to professional and retail investors.
New series to demystify SEC rules for social media and web pros
STARTING little over a minute ago, we’re introducing a new series to IR Web Report that aims to demystify the laws, rules and regulations that govern what public companies should and should not do on the web when it comes to information about their financial performance and business activities.
Tulip Bulbs, the SEC and Twitter
HELLO IR Web Report readers, I’m here to hopefully provide you with a bit of perspective on how the U.S. federal securities laws can come into play in the context of a web-based investor relations practice. But, being that I am a lawyer, the first thing I have to do is refer you to a [...]
SEC should focus on access in “notice & access”
AFTER a long delay, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has finally proposed tweaks to its failed “notice and access” process for delivering shareholder meeting materials on the web. The model, which essentially transfers the decision to receive materials electronically or in print from shareowners to companies, has resulted in a dramatic drop in the [...]
eBay’s lawyers are wrong to delete earnings call information
eBay and other leading tech companies’ shallow earnings call archiving practices raise questions about their transparency.
My advice to Directors: get out the vote!
EVER since the folks at Risk Metrics asked me several weeks ago to write something for directors about communicating with shareholders, I’ve been struggling to put down my thoughts in some sort of coherent form. The problem, you see, is that I don’t think there’s anything directors can do. Communication is not enough. PR and [...]
The SEC’s requirements for online annual reports and proxy statements
SINCE a few people have asked recently about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) requirements for online annual reports and proxy statements, I thought I’d put them in this post for future reference. Although many aspects of the so-called e-Proxy rules are not being done well, I think the most overlooked aspect is the [...]
Why I’m nervous for BGC and its next earnings release
BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a small-cap inter-dealer broker of financial instruments, is taking the bold step of using the notice-and-access approach with its next earnings release on February 26 — but I think they should reconsider. On Monday, the company issued a news release announcing the following: “In compliance with the U.S. Securities and [...]
SEC’s Aguilar: Fix e-Proxy or scrap it
SEEKING to improve board accountability to shareholders, one of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) leaders has called for the 18-month-old electronic proxy delivery rules to be improved or repealed. Commissioner Luis Aguilar said at the SEC Speaks in 2009 event in Washington on Friday that the so-called e-Proxy rules, which enable companies to [...]
Business Wire’s double standards
BUSINESS Wire, the press release distribution service owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BKR.B), has launched a PR assault designed to squash growing interest from investor relations customers in low-cost notice-and-access news releases. Quoting unpublished guidelines from the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), Business Wire says companies that want to use its services should [...]
NYSE to change policy on websites for disclosure
The New York Stock Exchange is set to change its antiquated “timely alert policy” to bring it in line with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) guidance for using corporate websites to satisfy Regulation FD.
Subscribe to feed