Electronic Communications Disclosure Guidelines

7 B) ANALYST REPORTS AND THIRD PARTY INFORMATION As a general practice, TSX recommends that an issuer not post any investor relations information on its web site that is authored by a third party, unless the information was prepared on behalf of the issuer, or is general in nature and not specific to the issuer. For example, if an issuer posts an analyst report or consensus report on its web site, it may be seen to be endorsing the views and conclusions of the report. By posting such information on its site, an issuer may become “entangled” with the report and be legally responsible for the content even though it did not author it. This could also give rise to an obligation to correct the report if the issuer becomes aware that the content is or has become misleading (for example, if the earnings projection is too optimistic). While TSX recommends that issuers refrain from posting analyst and consensus reports on their web sites, it recognizes that some issuers take a different view. If an issuer chooses to post any third party reports on its web site, TSX recommends that extreme caution be exercised. An issuer’s policy on posting analyst reports should address the following concerns: • permission to reprint a report should be obtained in advance from the third party, since reports are subject to copyright protection; • the information should clearly be identified as representing the views of the third party and not necessarily those of the issuer; • the entire report should be reproduced so that it is not misleading; • any updates, including changes in recommendations, should also be posted so the issuer’s web site will not contain out-of-date and possibly misleading information; • all third party reports should be posted. Instead of posting third party reports on its web site, an alternative approach is for an issuer to provide a list of all analysts who follow the issuer or all consensus reports issued regarding the issuer together with contact information so that investors may contact the third party directly. If an issuer chooses to provide its investors with a list of analysts and other third party authors, the list should be complete and include all analysts and other third party authors that the issuer knows to follow it, regardless of the content of their reports. Since issuers are not obligated to keep track of every third party that follows them or develops a consensus report regarding the issuer, it may be onerous to compile an accurate and complete list that is not misleading to investors. Concerns also exist regarding the posting of media articles, including radio, television and online news reports, about an issuer on the issuer’s web site. TSX recommends that issuers refrain from posting media articles on their web sites as it is very difficult for an issuer to ensure that it is posting all relevant articles to its web site. If an issuer chooses to do so, it must make every effort to ensure that all significant articles concerning the issuer are posted to the web site and that negative and positive articles are given similar prominence. Also, given the frequency with which media articles may appear, the issuer will have to regularly update the articles posted on its web site. C) THIRD PARTY LINKS As stated above, an issuer may establish hyperlinks between its web site and third party sites. If an issuer creates a hyperlink to a third party site, there is a risk that a viewer will not realize that he or she has left the issuer’s web site. TSX recommends that the issuer include a disclaimer stating clearly that the viewer is leaving the issuer web site and that the issuer is not responsible for the content, accuracy or timeliness of the other site. D) THE BLURRED LINE BETWEEN INVESTOR AND PROMOTIONAL INFORMATION TSX recommends that an issuer clearly identify and separate its investor information from other information on its web site. In particular, promotional, sales and marketing information should not be included on the same web pages as investor relations information. An issuer’s web site should clearly distinguish sections containing investor relations information from sections containing other information. 4. WHEN SHOULD INFORMATION BE REMOVED FROM A WEB SITE? Care should be taken to make sure that information that is inaccurate or out-of-date no longer appears on the web site. The currency of information on a web site will vary depending on the nature of the information. An issuer may retain on its web site its annual financial statements for a full year while removing other information such as frequent product releases more quickly. An issuer should review the types of information it posts on its web site and develop a consistent policy for the posting and removal of such different types of information. Issuers may delete or remove inaccurate information from the web site, as long as a correction has been posted. In addition, TSX recommends that issuers establish an archiving system to store and provide access to information that is no longer current. An electronic archive is a repository of information which has been removed from the web site but which can still be accessed from the web site through a link. To assist investors in determining the currency of the information on the site, TSX recommends that an issuer date the first page of each document as it is posted on the web site.