TheCorporateCounsel.net

Spanking brand new. By popular demand, this comprehensive “Managing Your Career Handbook” covers aspects of your career that you should be thinking about. This one is a real gem – 25 pages of guidance. All sorts of stuff on whether going in-house is right for you, how to work with recruiters, how to market yourself, how to evaluate potential employers, salary negotiations, how to work with law firms when you’re in-house – and more.

There isn’t much out there on this topic for folks in our community – yet it’s arguably the most important thing you should be worried about. Please take advantage…

How The IRS Uses Your Form 10-K

This CFO.com blog summarizes a study conducted by an accounting professor entitled “Reading the Roadmap: IRS Attention to Financial Statements.” The study notes the IRS’s increased usage of 10-K’s – and what that usage may mean. Gulp!

Global Trends in Investor Relations

Here’s an excerpt from this MoFo blog about this BNY Mellon report:

Director participation in investor meetings: Investor meetings with participation by board members more than doubled between 2013 and 2015, from 24% to 49%, respectively. This trend was led by companies in Developed Asia, with 81% of companies reporting such meetings, followed by Eastern Europe with 59% and Western Europe with 55%. North American companies had the lowest rate of board/investor interaction at 26%. Of the companies that reported meetings between directors and investors, 54% stated that such meetings were standard practice for the company and were generally the result of investor request. However, only 24% of companies reported having a written policy regarding interaction between directors and investors. 21% of companies stated that they believed directors should have no direct contact with investors.

Social media usage: The use of social media for IR purposes continues to increase, although at a slower pace in recent years. In 2010, only 9% of companies reported using social media for IR purposes, which increased to 28% in 2013 and 30% in 2015. Of the 70% of companies that reported not using social media for IR purposes, approximately half indicated that they may use social media in the future. The most common social media platforms used are Twitter/StockTwits (16%), Facebook (11%) and mobile phone/tablet IR apps (11%).

When analyzing the companies utilizing social media, the survey found that twice as many mega cap companies (54%) use social media in IR compared to microcap companies (26%). The four industry sectors reporting the highest usage of social media are Technology (39%), Financial (39%), Telecommunications (38%) and Healthcare (38%). Of the companies that reported not using social media for IR purposes, the majority cited a lack of investor demand (61%), as well as limited resources (35%), inability to control the message (29%) and lack of management support (28%).

– Broc Romanek