On August 14, 2017, the SEC approved the NYSE's proposed rule change amending Sections 204.12, 204.21, and 202.06(B) of its NYSE Listed Company Manual to require listed companies to provide notice to the NYSE at least ten minutes before making any public announcement about a dividend or stock distribution, including outside of the hours during which the NYSE's immediate release policy is in operation. The proposed rule change was issued on April 13, 2017 and was approved as originally proposed. The principal effect of the change is to require listed companies to provide ten minutes advance notice to the NYSE with respect to a dividend announcement made at any time, rather than just during the hours of operation of the immediate release policy which had been the case previously.
A copy of the SEC order approving the proposed rule change is available at: https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/nyse/2017/34-81393.pdf.
A copy of the proposed rule change is available at: https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse/rule-filings/filings/2017/NYSE-2017-17.pdf.
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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