An investor relations association is requesting a delay in implementation of the SEC's Regulation FD.
In a Sept. 21 letter to secretary of the SEC Jonathan Katz, Louis Thompson, president and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute, suggests the effective date be moved
from Oct. 23 to Dec. 29. The request is based on uncertainty about the steps that publicly traded companies must take to comply with the new rule. Thompson writes, based on
feedback the association has received from attendees at its "road shows" on FD, "We believe that many issuers will be unable to establish by Oct. 23 the internal processes and
procedures necessary to provide the level of public forecasting that will permit them to continue to provide guidance." The consequences will be a reduced amount of information
provided to the market, accompanied by the possibility of increased market volatility, he warns.
A spokesman for the SEC would not comment on when the agency might decide on NIRI's request.
(NIRI, 703/506-3570)