2.7 | Compliance with Laws, Rules and Regulations |
The Company requires its employees, officers and directors to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in countries where the Company does business. Violation of domestic or foreign laws and regulations may subject an individual, as well as the Company, to civil and/or criminal penalties.
Legal compliance is not always intuitive. To comply with the law, employees, officers and directors must learn enough about the national, state and local laws that affect the Company to spot potential issues and to obtain proper guidance on the right way to proceed. This means, for example, that employees and officers whose day-to-day work is directly affected by particular laws have a responsibility to understand them well enough to recognize potential problem areas and to know when and where to seek advice. When there is any doubt as to the lawfulness of any proposed activity, advice should be sought from the General Counsel, who may retain outside legal counsel to investigate the proposed activity.
Specific laws and regulations apply to participation in international business. Employees and officers involved in foreign business transactions must be fully familiar with, and strictly adhere to, all applicable foreign and domestic laws and regulations. Employees and officers involved in international business matters must, at a minimum, be familiar with and comply with all applicable laws controlling exports or regulating with whom the Company and its employees may do business. These laws include export control and licensing laws, economic sanctions, anti-boycott laws and various laws regulating the transnational movement of technology, goods and services. Questions regarding whether particular international transactions are permissible and compliance with applicable laws and this policy must be directed to the General Counsel.
The following is intended to provide a summary of certain provisions of the Company’s “Insider Trading Policy,” as adopted by the Board and as amended from time to time (the “Trading Policy”), and should be read in conjunction with the Trading Policy. Employees, officers and directors are required to abide by all of the terms of the Trading Policy. Nothing in this summary is intended to amend, modify or limit the terms of the Trading Policy.
Employees, officers and directors are prohibited by Company policy and the law from buying or selling securities of the Company at a time when in possession of “material nonpublic information.” (There is, however, an exception for trades made pursuant to a pre-existing trading plan, discussed below.) This conduct is known as “insider trading.” Passing such information on to someone who may buy or sell securities, known as “tipping,” is also illegal. The prohibition applies to Company securities and to securities of other companies if employees, officers and directors learn material nonpublic information about other companies, such as the Company’s customers, in the course of the employees’, officers’ and directors’ duties for the Company.
Information is “material” if (a) there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would find the information “important” in determining whether to trade in a security; or (b) the information, if made public, likely would affect the market price of a company’s securities. Examples of types of material information include unannounced dividends, earnings, financial results, new or lost contracts or products, sales results, important personnel changes, business plans, possible mergers, acquisitions, divestitures or joint ventures, important litigation developments, and important regulatory, judicial or legislative actions. Information may be material even if it relates to future, speculative or contingent events and even if it is significant only when considered in combination with publicly available information.
Information is considered to be nonpublic unless it has been adequately disclosed to the public, which means that the information must be publicly disclosed, and adequate time must have passed for the securities markets to digest the information. Examples of adequate disclosure include public filings with securities regulatory authorities and the issuance of press releases, and may also include meetings with members of the press and the public. A delay of one or two business days is generally considered a sufficient period for routine information to be absorbed by the market. Nevertheless, a longer period of delay might be considered appropriate in more complex disclosures. The appropriate amount of time is something that must be discussed, before trading, with the General Counsel.
The Trading Policy establishes restrictions on the trading of the Company’s securities by directors, officers and certain “Restricted Employees” (as defined in the Trading Policy). Such persons are not permitted to trade the Company’s securities during “blackout periods.” In addition, directors and offers must have their trades cleared by the General Counsel prior to completing the trade.
Employees, officers and directors are not permitted to disclose material nonpublic information to anyone, including co-workers, unless the person receiving the information has a legitimate need to know the information for purposes of carrying out the Company’s business. Employees, officers and directors that leave the Company must maintain the confidentiality of all such information until it has been adequately disclosed to the public by the Company. If there is any question as to whether information regarding the Company or another company with which the Company has dealings is material or has been adequately disclosed to the public, employees, officers and directors should contact the General Counsel.
8