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
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
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
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
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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
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
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