The following is not meant to be legal advice.
Under the new SEC rule, issuers can provide proxy materials to shareholders by posting their proxy materials and voting instructions on an established Internet website and sending a Notice, by regular mail or e-mail, to their shareholders at least 40 days prior to
the annual shareholder meeting. Though, it is not known how much money this method would save since most issues may not have the emails of their shareholders, resulting in having to mail the notices, which may not cost as much postage, but still a hit on mailing expenses.
The Notice must include: legend in bold-face type that provides the website address where the proxy materials can be obtained; date, time, and location of the meeting (with directions to the meeting. The Notice must be filed with the SEC no later than the date on which it was first sent to shareholders.
The Notice cannot be accompanied by any other material, including a proxy card. This is to ensure that every investor vote is based on an informed decision. A proxy card can be sent to a shareholder but only after 10 days has passed since the first mailing of the Notice. The proxy card must be accompanied by a copy of the original Notice sent to the shareholder.
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