May 2, 2005
Results from Reg FD Survey
In anticipation of today’s webcast – “The Latest Regulation FD Practices” – take a gander at the running results from our Reg FD survey below:
1. Our company has a written policy addressing Reg FD practices:
– 9%: Yes, and it is publicly available on our website
– 64%: Yes, but it is not publicly available on our website
– 11%: No, but we are in the process of drafting such a policy
– 16%: No, and we do not intend to adopt such a policy in the near future
2. Regarding reaffirmation of earning announcements, our company uses one of the following rules of thumb regarding private reaffirmations:
– 70%: We do not allow private reaffirmations
– 6%: Rule of thumb allowing for private reaffirmations of one week or less
– 5%: Rule of thumb allowing for private reaffirmations of one to two weeks
– 6%: Rule of thumb allowing for private reaffirmations of two weeks or longer
– 13%: We permit private reaffirmations – but never use a rule of thumb, instead we require confirmation of no material change with CEO, GC, etc.
3. At our company, our CEO and other senior managers (note more than one answer permitted):
– 6%: Are not permitted to meet privately with analysts
– 41%: Are only permitted to meet privately with analysts so long as someone else accompanies them (such as general counsel or IR officer)
– 50%: Are permitted to meet privately with analysts after briefing by IR officer, general counsel, etc.
– 33%: Are only permitted to meet privately with analysts during certain designated times
Please note that we have had a last minute substitution on the panel of today’s webcast as John Huber unfortunately can’t make it – but we gain the inhouse perspective of Michael Cahn of Textron and Stacey Geer of BellSouth.
Update on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange
Last June, I blogged about how some members had success getting their clients delisted from the Berlin-Bremen Exchange. Now, I am hearing that this exchange has taken a more harsh position and is not willing to delist companies (remember that the Exchange lists companies without their knowledge or consent).
I would be interested in hearing from anyone that has had dealings with this Exchange recently, as this problem appears to be worse than ever. Then, I will update our “Berlin-Bremen Exchange” Practice Area.
SEC Fees Going Down Again for 2006
On Friday, the SEC issued this fee rate advisory indicating that – effective October 1, 2005 (or 5 days after the date on which the SEC receives its fiscal year 2006 regular appropriation, whichever date comes later, and it always comes later!) – the Section 6(b) fee rate applicable to registration of securities will decrease to $107.00 per million from the current rate of $117.70 per million, which is about a 9% reduction! Over the past few years, this rate has been steadily dropping.