At least for publice disclosures to stock holders. But it’s progress, right?
For years Bill and I have tried to work with Attorneys, Insurance companies and Financial Advisors to help them build a social media presence. There were always so many perceived restrictions on what information they could disseminate on public forums that people in those industries were hesitant to post anything at all. In a world that is changing and evolving they were literally the dinosaurs of the web. But it wasn’t their fault. It was the regulators.
Today there was an announcement in the Wall Street Journal with the SEC stating that if used purely as a way to put out pertinent information, to all the public and shareholders without bias, outlets such as Twitter, Google+, and Facebook can now be used by the financial industries.
Excerpt from the articleon WSJ:
“ An increasing number of public companies are using social media to communicate with their shareholders and the investing public,” the SEC said in its report Tuesday. “We appreciate the value and prevalence of social media channels in contemporary market communications, and the commission supports companies seeking new ways to communicate.”
The fair-disclosure rule at issue requires companies to disseminate information in a way that wouldn’t be expected to give an advantage to one group of investors over another. The SEC has said that filing a form, known as an 8-K, or holding an earnings call are both ways to ensure compliance with the regulation.
In 2008, the SEC said that companies could use their corporate home pages, under certain circumstances, to disseminate sensitive information.
In its Tuesday ruling, the agency said social-media sites would also suffice—in some circumstances. It blessed sites as long as companies make clear to investors they plan to use them. It also suggested a corporate executive’s personal Facebook page wasn’t as likely as a company’s social media page to be a channel through which companies would be allowed to make important announcements.”
To read the rest of the article click here:
To all of our prospects in the Financial Industries, give us a call, we can help!!!
Social-cindy over and out.
