{"id":460,"date":"2020-05-10T18:26:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T18:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kronengold.com\/?p=460"},"modified":"2020-09-22T16:54:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T16:54:27","slug":"sec-rule-change-internet-availability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kronengold.com\/sec-rule-change-internet-availability\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC Rule Change: Internet Availability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, on June 20, 2007, the SEC adopted a new mandatory Internet availability model whereby shareholders are granted the option to choose the means by which to access proxy materials. Under the adopted amendments, issuers will be required to post their proxy materials on an Internet website and provide shareholders with a written notice of the Internet availability of the materials. The issuer may still choose to furnish paper copies of the proxy materials along with the notice of Internet availability. If the issuer chooses not to furnish a paper copy of the proxy materials along with the notice, a shareholder may request delivery of a copy at no charge to the shareholder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rules replace SEC Release 34-55146, published on January 22, 2007, entitled Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, which granted companies the option to adopt a voluntary notice and access model for the furnishing of proxy materials via a company\u2019s website. According to Release 34-55146, as of July 1, 2007, an issuer was allowed, but not required, to furnish proxy materials to its shareholders by posting them on an Internet website and providing shareholders with notice of the availability of the proxy materials on the website, instead of physically distributing the proxy materials via the mail, provided that shareholders still had the option to request hard copies of the proxy materials<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move to Internet availability, as mandated by the new rules, will be phased in over two years, with large accelerated filers being subject to the new Internet availability rules as of January 1, 2008, and remaining issuers being subject to the new rules as of January 1, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, both the SEC and NYSE have taken positive steps to reduce wasteful, expensive shareholder mailings that are largely ignored. In January 2007 the NYSE published rule amendments that dispensed with the need to mail hard copies of proxy materials and annual reports to shareholders. Now with the new SEC rules, companies may post their proxy materials on their websites and notify shareholders as to their availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NYSE Rule Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In its 2007 Corporate Governance Letter to Domestic Companies, dated January 7, 2007, the NYSE notified listed companies that on August 21, 2006, the SEC approved an amendment to Section 203.01 of the Listed Company Manual eliminating the previous NYSE requirement that a listed company must physically distribute its annual report to shareholders and instead requiring a company to post its annual report filed with the SEC to its website as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n