SEC Issues New Interpretive Guidance On Use Of Company Web Sites

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an interpretive release¹ that provides the first significant SEC guidance since 2000 on how a company may use its Web site to disclose information and communicate with investors in compliance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).² The interpretive release provides guidance to companies in assessing:

• When information posted on a company's Web site is "public" for purposes of Regulation FD
  
  
• Potential liability arising from information disclosed on, or hyperlinked from, a company's Web site
  
  
• Disclosure controls and procedures for information posted on a company's Web site