from d_wussler at 5/9/2005 5:00:28 PM
Mr. Citron -
The reason for the 7-day availability of presentations at investor conferences, etc., is because the information provided can become stale very quickly (based on business conditions, economic environment, world events, etc.). If an investor relied on information we made accessible to make an investment decision, and that information was dated or had otherwise changed, there could be liability on the part of the company for providing the information. After discussion and consideration, it was determined that 7 days of availability is a reasonable amount of time to make replays available.
Microchip meets and exceeds the requirements mandated by Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure). We do not limit transparency, but rather, provide webcasts and replays of conference calls, presentations at conferences hosted by investment banking firms, and other investor relations events. The events are publicized and widely disseminated, and the replays are available on a 24 hour a day basis for seven days from the date of the event.
If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your interest in Microchip.
My response:
Deborah,
That is true only if you do not make the standard disclaimer in the introduction to the call that you undertake no responsibility to update your forward-looking statements.
Here is how GE handles this issue, with the relevant language in bold:
“2005 results are preliminary and quarterly information is unaudited. This document contains "forward-looking statements" – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forwardlooking
statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," or "will." Forwardlooking
statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, particular uncertainties arise from the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest
rates and commodity prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; from future financial performance of major industries which we serve including, without limitation, the air and rail
transportation, energy generation, media, real estate and healthcare industries; from unanticipated loss development in our insurance businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional
and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive and regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those
expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements."
This presentation includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC rules. As required by SEC rules, we have provided a reconciliation of those measures to the most directly comparable
GAAP measures, which is available in our Supplemental Information file on our investor relations website at www.ge.com/investor.
ge.com
I'm sure that your corporate counsel can provide you with the appropriate language to use.
I regard a 7 day archive as insufficient for a thorough investor to properly perform due diligence duties.
Sam Citron |
