SEC Approves Making Material Disclosures on Social Media

The SEC recently approved of executives making material disclosures about their company via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  I find this fascinating for two reasons.  First, because of the change this brings to the painful securities disclosure regulatory scheme that has been in place for so long, which has required companies to disseminate information broadly and non-exclusively through filings and press releases.  Often cumbersome, but at least it was consistent and predictable for the investing public.  And second, because this information could now be at risk of being released without the sanitizer of the company's PR and legal departments.  

So now investors will have to follow the feeds and tweets of corporate officers to keep up with the latest material information ​-- as long as the company tells them to look there.