New SEC Rules



New SEC Rules came into effect as of January 1, 2009 (SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 17 CFR PART 240 - RELEASE NOS. 34-56135; IC-27911; File No. S7-03-07) on how Listed Companies communicate with shareholders for theAGM.

According to this Rule, regardless of whether a Listed Company notifies shareholders about the AGM via the traditional full mailing process or the newly established Notice and Access process, it must post materials pertaining to the Annual General Meeting (Annual Report, Proxy Statement and Proxy Card) free of charge on a publicly available website, whose address should be specified in the Notice sent to shareholders. The materials should be posted on this website no later than the date when such materials are first sent to shareholders or made public and must remain available on the site throughoutthe conclusion of the shareholder meeting.

This website, which as per the Rule cannot be the SEC's Edgar system, should be designed in such a way so as not to infringe on the anonymity of a person accessing the website. Under the SEC Rule, a Company must refrain from installing cookies and other tracking features on the website on which the proxy and other AGM materials are posted. This can be best achieved by creating new web pages segregated from the rest of the company's regular website or creating a new website.