IR Content On Corporate Website
The websites of New Jersey companies that are publicly traded must feature special areas devoted to investor relations. This is a mandate of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Some of the information that appears on a typical investor relations website might be required but other information may be optional. Understanding the requirements and the pros and cons of including other discretionary information is important.
Equisolve, a company that produces IR websites, points out that the two leading stock exchanges, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, have slightly different requirements for some information on investor relations websites. For example, a company trading on Nasdaq must publish quarterly and annual earnings results. A company trading on the NYSE is only required to publish annual earnings results.
Regardless of exchange, companies must provide information on corporate governance including methods for contacting board members, committee makeup including the identification of chairpersons. Committee charters, a code of ethics and a whistleblower policy are also mandatory elements on an IR section of a website.
IR Magazine suggests that some non-required elements can benefit companies. One example is a full transcript of earnings call webcasts and even a brief video recap from the chief financial officer and chief executive officer. This offers investors greater opportunities to receive the information they need and can be viewed as a positive act of transparency. Providing downloadable financial reports also aids in information capture. Robust search functions for archived material is also recommended, again for ease of use for site visitors.
Understanding how this affects the small business economy is part of our job here at Santomassimo Davis LLP, as we primarily focus in providing expert Outside General Counsel for a variety of law firms and legal issues related to Corporate and Business Law in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
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