social media for public companies

Social Media: Best Practices for Canadian Public Companies

Securities and Mergers & Acquisitions GroupJune 21, 2011

Welcome

• Moderator: Georald Ingborg, Partner, Fasken Martineau

• Panelists:• Eleanor Fritz, Director, Compliance & Disclosure, TSX• Rhylin Bailie, Director of Communications/IR, NovaGold• Caroline Clapham, Associate, Fasken Martineau

How you can digitally take part today:

• Share the information you heard here today on Twitter using the hashtag:

#FaskenSM4Pubcos

• Ask questions of the panellists using the hashtag and an @reply to:

@CarolineClapham

Current Social Media Landscape (Canada)

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Either Twitter orFacebookBoth Twitter andFacebookTwitter Only

Facebook Only

Current Social Media Landscape (Canada)

Natural ResourcesTechnologyConsumer GoodsAirlineBanks

Current Social Media Landscape (Canada)

• Average # of Followers = 1,375 • Highest # of Followers = Lululemon

(84k) and Westjet (75k)

• Highest # of Fans = RIM (>7M) and Tim Hortons (1.6M)

NovaGold – a social media leaderGoal: expanding stakeholder reach

Implementation: Convincing your Team

$NG’s Experience:

General vs. Selective Disclosure

Material Fact or Material Change?

• Kerr v. Danier Leather Inc. (Supreme Court Of Canada)

• AiT Advanced Information Technologies Corporation, Bernard Jude Ashe And Deborah Weinstein (Ontario Securities Commission)

Social media implication: material changes must be generally disclosed

Misrepresentations

• Untrue statement• Half-true Statement – ie. Not enough info• Unintentional omission to disclose

Social media implication: THERE ARE NO TAKE-BACKS – every tweet/post is permanent

Third party information

• Endorsements• Sharing news• Promotional content• Entanglement• Analyst coverage

Social media implication: be careful with third party disclosure and information

Disclaimers and Mandated Disclosure

• Safe harbour statements - when, where and how

• Technical information

Social media implication: include links to meet disclosure requirements

Dissemination in the United States

• Is your company listed in the US?• What constitutes dissemination?• When is dissemination acceptable?

Social media implication: issuers that are not listed in the United States need to be attuned to these issues – consult legal before you post/tweet!