Dirt Diggers Network: Digest No. 15
August 12, 2002
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. Peeking at internal company documents
2. SEC proposes rule on analyst certification
3. SEC moving faster toward putting insider trading forms online
4. New corporate and securities law blog
5. State Department letter on Exxon Mobil and human rights in Indonesia
6. Article on researching business affiliations
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1. Peeking at internal company documents
A new website called Internal Memos <www.internalmemos.com>
provides access to what it says are internal documents from a
variety of companies. Some of the documents can be viewed for
free, while full access to the collection requires a monthly
subscription fee of $45.
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2. SEC proposes rule on analyst certification
CEOs and CFOs may not be the only players in the securities
world who have to certify their documents. The SEC recently announced
a proposed rule <http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/33-8119.htm> that
would require that any research report disseminated by a broker or dealer
include certifications by the research analyst that the views expressed in the
research report accurately reflect the analyst's personal views, and whether
the analyst received compensation or other payments in connection with
his or her specific recommendations or views. A research analyst would
also be required to provide certifications and disclosures in connection with
public appearances.
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3. SEC moving faster toward putting insider trading forms online
The SEC recently announced <http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/34-46313.htm>
that it will accelerate its move toward requiring insider trading reports
(Form 4) to be filed electronically and to be disseminated via the EDGAR
system. The SEC had been talking about the change for a while, but the
faster movement is mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform
act passed by Congress last month. The Act requires insider transactions
to be reported within two days, though the legislation allows the SEC to
determine alternative rules where the two-day timetable may not be feasible.
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4. New corporate and securities law blog
If you are a close follower of corporate and securities law, you may want to
check out a new blog (weblog) that has been set up as part of RR Donnelley's
RealCorporateLawyer.com website. The blog can be accessed directly at
http://www.realcorporatelawyer.com/blog/blog.html
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5. State Department letter on Exxon Mobil and human rights in Indonesia
The U.S. State Department has taken the unusual step of asking a federal judge
to dismiss a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil for its alleged complicity in human
rights violations in Indonesia. The International Labor Rights Fund, which brought
the suit, has posted the State Department letter to the court as well as other
documents on the case on its website at http://www.laborrights.org/. Apparently,
the Bush Administration is willing to go only so far with its supposed support of
corporate social responsibility.
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6. Article on researching business affiliations
The Online Journalism Review recently posted the second of two articles on researching
people using the internet. Part II <http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/1028068074.php>
covers affiliations with businesses and other organizations. It contains a useful and
up-to-date list of links to sources of information on state corporate filings, UCC filings,
non-profit Form 990 filings, campaign contributions, etc.
Philip Mattera
pmattera@goodjobsfirst.org