CCR Comments on Reg FD.

In a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary Jonathan Katz, FEI's Committee on Corporate Reporting argued that the proposed rule on full disclosure (Regulation FD), scheduled to take effect in late October, generally "appears to be appropriate and workable." But the panel noted that a wide disparity of policies and views about disclosure exists among the membership, with some companies having similar procedures already in place.

In general, however, CCR argues that "selective disclosure is inappropriate and can serve to undermine investor confidence in both [the] fairness and integrity of the securities market. We support codification in SEC requirements of a concise and clear set of rules that state explicitly the obligations for disclosure of material information to the public. We also believe that it is important that the new rules not be overly restrictive or permit ambiguity in interpretation and enforcement."

One specific criticism focused on the SEC's proposed time frame just 24 hours, for companies to publicly release any "material" information that had been selectively disclosed. CCR believes that time frame is too narrow, and argues that two business days would be a more appropriate time period.