Ten Tips for Dealing with Regulation FD

• Develop a written disclosure policy encompassing the company's practices. Your policy should reflect the company's disclosure culture and not contain lofty goals that may not be achieved. It should be a statement of what you do and not how you do it.
• Limit the number of authorized spokespersons and inform employees not covered by Reg. FD that they are not to speak to analysts except when authorized to do so.
• Issue earnings guidance in the quarterly news release and in the Web cast conference call that is fully accessible and non-exclusionary. Guidance may be in the form of projections based on factors which drive the company's earnings and/or projected EPS for the quarter or an EPS range. Make no commitment to updating that information, but as a matter of principle, issue a news release if projections change materially. Once you are in the quiet period, make no comments about earnings.
• Review analysts' earnings models and reports only on the basis of (1) errors of historical facts that are in the public domain, and (2) on the basis of fully published information.
• Institute a quiet period beginning when the company's results become reasonably apparent and ending when the quarterly results are released. During that time, the company will not comment on earnings or provide any additional earnings guidance.
• Conduct one-on-one meetings with the buy-and-sell side. Focus discussions on non-earnings related information such as: long-term strategy, missions, goals, management philosophy in running the company, strength and depth of management, general business trends, competitive advantages/disadvantages and previously disclosed information.
• Always have the IRO or someone completely familiar with the company's disclosure record attend these sessions or be on the phone with company officials or others designated to speak for the company to interrupt if questions could elicit a material response or to determine if an inadvertent material disclosure was made so it can be publicly released promptly.
• Conduct a pre-brief of company officials prior to analyst/investor meetings and script the presentations. Should a senior official engage in a true one-on-one (with no one else from the company present) via phone or a face-to-face, the IRO should de-brief the official to determine if there may have been an unintentional disclosure of material non-public information.
• When making presentations at broker or industry sponsored conferences, ask the sponsor if the company can Web cast the presentation and the Q&A. An alternative is to put the presentation script and slides on the company Web site and/or furnish it under Item 9 in an 8-K.
• Hire a vendor who can set up on your company's Web site, using push technology, with the means for providing interested investors and the media an email alert notifying them of upcoming conference calls, Web postings, releases and SEC filings.