It’s time to stop worrying about Regulation FD and start being folksy, down-to-earth, and whatever else your PR people tell you to do in starting your corner window office blog.

Funny would be good. We like funny.

Long ago I wrote how CEO blogging simply wouldn’t take off for two simple reasons, the letters F and D. Put them together in an SEC context, and you get CEOs who would rather fly coach than risk their jobs with an ill-advised blog post.

The Securities and Exchange Commission finally bought into all this newfangled blogging and social media technology, as they provided new guidance on what can go on a website or blog without bringing down the SEC hammer.

They divvied the new guidance, an interpretive release (whatever that means), summarized in brief on four points:

The guidance clarifies how information posted on a company Web site can be considered “public” and provides guidance to help companies comply with public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD.

The guidance clarifies the liability framework for certain types of electronic disclosure, including how companies can provide access to historical or archived data without it being considered reissued or republished every time it is accessed.

The guidance clarifies that information posted on company Web sites would not generally be subject to rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to a company’s “disclosure controls and procedures.”

The guidance clarifies that information need not satisfy a “printer-friendly” standard, unless other rules explicitly require it, that could restrict creative Web enhancements that incorporate interactive and dynamic design features.

So who would you like to see blog from the CEO seat?

Posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 11:59 am. Permalink