The SEC's Renewed Focus on Regulation FD

According to a survey conducted by the Investment Company Institute and the Securities Industry Association, approximately 57 million households, half of all U.S. households, a threefold increase from the early 1980s, own stocks directly or through a mutual fund. The democratization of stock ownership, combined with the advancement and widespread usage of technology-based communication platforms, such as e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and corporate blogs, by the world's largest public companies to communicate information to customers and shareholders has: 1) facilitated the dissemination of information, and 2) resulted in an increased amount of scrutiny on the performance of, and the disclosures made by, public companies. Without question, public corporations and capital markets have had, and will continue to have, an increasingly more visible role in contemporary America. Accordingly, corporate counsel, compliance directors, executive officers and boards of directors should take note: The investing public is demanding more transparency and accountability of corporate America ' more accurate financials, more detailed compensation disclosures and more internal controls.