SEC Guidance On Company Website Disclosure Best Practices – Implications For Canadian Issuers

Copyright 2008, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Corporate Finance, October 2008

In light of ongoing developments in web-based technology and the dramatic increase in the use of the Internet, the SEC recently published an interpretive release (the SEC Release) updating its guidance on the use of company websites as a means of disclosing corporate information under U.S. securities laws. The SEC Release encourages SEC issuers to use company websites to provide public disclosure and highlights circumstances under which website disclosure alone may meet U.S. disclosure rules, and practices companies should adopt to avoid contravening applicable antifraud provisions. In Canada, National Policy 51-201 – Disclosure Standards (NP 51-201) also encourages the use of company websites as a means of disclosing corporate information but only as a supplement to, and not substitute for, traditional forms of dissemination. However, NP 51-201