Since Bill 198 became law back in the early part of 2006 there have been many different perspectives regarding what this means to directors and officers and how companies manage their secondary market disclosure.
Since our inception in 2005 we have had numerous regulators, consultants and customers support our position that companies should maintain records of what is being disclosed through the corporate web site.
Here is a quote from a recent customer: “The web site is now accepted as the main communication vehicle with the public and has the potential to be at the center of liability regarding disclosure or misrepresentation. With the new regulation surrounding secondary market disclosure (Bill 198) we felt it was important to secure and track our corporate web site”
Recently I have heard that some IR web site consultants have been recommending to their clients that “the web site record doesn’t matter”. This has been concerning for us to hear because this advice is not coming from a risk or compliance standpoint and has the potential to inadvertently put these clients at risk.
Here is another quote from one of our customers: “In today’s regulatory environment, it is very advantageous and reassuring that the system automatically tracks and logs all changes and approvals, ensuring greater protection and compliance”
In addition to these customer quotes, David Brown the former Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission said “With civil liability legislation, publicly traded companies should be doing everything they can to ensure comprehensive records of all capital markets disclosure - and this includes the full content of the corporate/investor web site.”
Mr. Brown was tasked with adopting US Sarbanes-Oxley for TSX listed issuers and is responsible for much of Bill 198 and other related legislation such as MI 52-109 (certification of disclosure controls and procedures). Mr. Brown is a member of our advisory board and has been instrumental in guiding the evolution of our products as they relate to Bill 198 and MI 52-109.
As corporate/investor relations web sites continue to increase in importance and in some cases are becoming the prime source of disclosure (Sun’s latest quarterly earnings - which were released through their web site first ) the fact that companies must maintain accurate records in order to reduce risk also continues to increase. Claiming that the “web site record doesn’t matter” is completely counter to the true environment of corporate reporting, investor relations and capital markets disclosure.
Technorati Tags: Q4 Web Systems, Q4, Investor Relations, IR Web Sites, Disclosure, Bill 198, Civil Liability, Sarbanes Oxley, David Brown, RegFD
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