In early February, in a move that raises some profound questions about the integrity of ‘independent’ research, the U.S. Justice Department sued Standard & Poor’s for ignoring its own bond-rating standards. In addition, the new rounds of layoffs at brokerage houses just keep coming, with the remaining analysts picking up a larger workload. | Read Article |

Every company wants research coverage, and it is very understandable. Research coverage helps to spread your story, find new investors and facilitate trade for those wanting to buy with those wanting to sell (and hopefully the buyers outnumber the sellers). | Read Article |

The retail investor is an often ignored component of an investor relations program, yet one that can provide solid value to a company. The reality is that in order to target this group effectively, a company needs the resources and budget to undertake the tactics required for success. In addition, a company needs to generate a yield and have growth potential to attract this audience. | Read Article |

The Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") adopted amendments to National Instrument 54-101 - Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer ("NI 54-101") and National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations in November 2012. These amendments are intended to improve the process by which reporting issuers ("Issuers") send proxy-related materials to, and solicit proxies and voting instructions from, registered holders and beneficial owners of their securities. | Read Article |

The date many financial statements preparers hoped would never come has finally arrived. Two years after performing a comprehensive adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), public companies rang in 2013 with four new standards to adopt. | Read Article |

Merriam-Webster defines a paradox as “something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible”. At first blush that was certainly the consensus among my colleagues as we chatted one evening. I had tossed out a challenge to name the first thing that came to mind when I said the words ‘investor relations’ and ‘social media’ together. The responses were fast and furious, and all the same: they don’t belong together! | Read Article |