US stock regulator embraces social media

Corporate CEOs in the US can now post company information on social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook as long as it was not selectively disseminated, Yashwant Raj reports.

Corporate CEOs in the US can now post company information on social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook as long as it was not selectively disseminated.

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Expect an Internet hunt now for CEOs to friend or follow.

“An increasing number of public companies are using social media to communicate with shareholders and investing public,” said the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. And the commission would like to encourage it.

But, said SEC’s enforcement chief George Canellos, “One set of shareholders should not be able to get a jump on other shareholders just because the company is selectively disclosing important information.

In short: let everyone know “broadly and non-exclusively” the company’s or the CEO’s Twitter handle or Facebook page or name.