I have spoken to many IROs about their use of social media. Some are exploring their options (and even have their own personal Facebook or Twitter account) to help them decipher what will fit in best with their company’s communications and overall business strategy. If they decide to move forward with some kind of social network, they are taking it slowly to see what evolves and how much of their time it will actually take up (see my recent blog about two companies who have gradually integrated Twitter and Facebook into their corporate strategy).
Others are sitting on the sidelines waiting for a RegFD violation from those who are using it or direction from the SEC on specific guidelines for its use (I wouldn’t hold my breath).
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I read an article in today’s ROB entitled ‘Who’s reading insider e-mails? Try the IT guys’ that should send a strong message to issuers regarding their compliance risk management efforts.
Regulators revealed yesterday that an IT analyst with TD Securities Inc. bought shares in Synenco Energy, based on information he obtained while reading the personal emails of investment bankers working on a takeover bid. And of course, the fact that the emails were being monitored was invisible to all participants.
Apparently there have been a string of recent cases in which people outside the corporate inner circle have been accused of trading on information that was illegally obtained by reading confidential emails.
Although none of the top dogs knew this was going on, regulators say that firms are responsible for ensuring that critical email is not intercepted.
Had any of the companies mentioned in the article been using Q4 PRESS, nobody could have intercepted their emails for privileged information, because no confidential content is ever included within an email or its subject line.
Q4 PRESS allows internal and external teams to collaborate securely on confidential information – even on a BlackBerry . The Author or point person on the document controls who can be invited to participate and even controls who can be involved in specific segments of the document. Within each version, the entire process is completely transparent allowing all participants to view the comments and edits of one another.
No confidential information is ever transmitted via email. Subject lines are generic and even the message related to the document can be made secure.
With Q4 PRESS, everything is tracked in real time and is visible to all participants. The entire process can be overseen by a designated auditor/supervisor. A complete report of the entire collaborative process can instantly be generated viewed in a number of useful ways.
Compliance risk management officers take note – unlike the invisible IT administrator in the Synenco story, with Q4 PRESS there’s nowhere to hide!