Building Your Investor Relations Website — What's Required and What's Best Practice

Regulation FD requires that when a public company intentionally discloses material non-public information, it must do so in a manner of broad public disclosure — simultaneously. The investor relations website is the most reliable mechanism for satisfying this requirement: earnings releases, investor presentations, and other material disclosures posted to the IR website are considered broadly available to the public. Every public company must have an IR website operational before the first day of trading.

The Reg FD Role of the IR Website

Under Regulation FD, "public disclosure" means disclosure made in a manner designed to provide broad, non-exclusionary distribution of the information to the public. The SEC has confirmed that posting information to an IR website can satisfy this requirement if:

• The website is publicly accessible without registration or payment
• The information is posted in a format and location that would be found by investors seeking information about the company
• The information is posted simultaneously with or promptly after any disclosure to covered persons

In practice, most companies use a combination of: (1) press release distribution via PR Newswire or Business Wire, (2) SEC filing on EDGAR, and (3) posting to the IR website. The SEC has also confirmed through guidance and enforcement actions that social media posts can constitute public disclosure — but only if investors have been put on notice that the company uses that channel for material disclosures.

Required and Expected Content

• SEC filings section: Links to all SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy statement, S-1) — either hosted directly or via EDGAR. Most IR platforms pull filings automatically from EDGAR.
• Earnings releases and presentations: All earnings press releases and accompanying investor presentations, posted simultaneously with the public announcement.
• Annual report: The most recent 10-K, accessible in PDF format.
• Corporate governance documents: Board committee charters (audit, compensation, nominating/governance), code of business conduct and ethics, insider trading policy, and corporate governance guidelines — the SEC requires that listed companies make these available on their website.
• Board of directors: Director biographies, committee assignments, and independence status.
• Stock information: Stock price ticker, transfer agent contact information, and share information.
• Contact information: IR contact name, email, and phone number for investor inquiries.

IR Website Platforms

Ongoing Maintenance Obligations After the IPO

The IR website is not a one-time build — it requires systematic updates to remain compliant with SEC rules and exchange listing standards. A quarterly IR website maintenance checklist:

Earnings Call and Webcast Logistics

The quarterly earnings call is the most important recurring IR event for a newly public company. The IR website plays a central logistics role:

• Webcast hosting: The earnings call is simultaneously broadcast via dial-in (phone) and webcast (web-based audio). Most IR platforms (Q4, Notified) provide integrated webcast hosting. The webcast link must be posted to the IR website before the call — announced in advance by press release with the date, time, and access details — the advance-notice-plus-open-access model the SEC endorsed in the Reg FD adopting release.
• Replay availability: Best practice — this is convention, not an SEC rule — is posting a replay of the earnings call webcast to the IR website within 24 hours of the call concluding, and keeping it available for at least 90 days. Some companies also post the full transcript.
• Simultaneous press release posting: The earnings press release must be posted to the IR website at the exact moment it is distributed via wire service (PR Newswire or Business Wire) and filed as an 8-K exhibit. A delay between wire distribution and website posting could technically create a selective disclosure window.
• Slide deck posting: If management presents slides during the earnings call, those slides should be posted to the IR website before the call begins — not after — and are commonly furnished as an exhibit to the Item 2.02 Form 8-K; posting with advance notice is what satisfies Reg FD.

Social Media Policy Integration

Since the SEC's 2013 guidance on social media and Reg FD, companies must disclose which social media channels they use for material disclosures. The IR website should include a clear statement of the company's social media policy:

• List the specific social media accounts (company Twitter/X, LinkedIn, CEO's account if used for disclosures) that the company has designated for material disclosures — this puts investors on notice to monitor those channels
• Tell investors which channels to monitor — in periodic reports, on the IR website, or via an 8-K; the SEC's 2013 guidance requires effective notice, not a specific form
• Most companies do NOT use social media for material disclosures and instead state clearly on the IR website: "We use our IR website, press releases, and SEC filings for all material disclosures. Social media posts should not be relied upon for investment decisions."
• Monitor executive personal social media accounts — if the CEO discusses business metrics on a personal account, that may constitute a Reg FD violation even without company knowledge. Include social media conduct in the insider trading policy and executive communications training.

ADA Accessibility and IR Website Compliance

There is no SEC accessibility rule for filings, but ADA Title III claims over inaccessible public-facing websites are common, and WCAG 2.1 AA is the de facto standard that courts and settlements reference — making accessible formats both good practice and litigation risk mitigation. In practice:

• All PDF documents posted to the IR website (10-K, 10-Q, earnings releases) should be "tagged" PDFs that screen readers can navigate — not just image scans of paper documents
• Earnings call webcasts should include closed captions or transcripts for hearing-impaired investors
• IR website navigation must be keyboard-navigable and screen-reader compatible
• Videos and presentations must include text alternatives or captions
• Several companies have faced ADA litigation related to IR website accessibility — this is a real risk, not just a best-practice aspiration

What Must Be Live Before Listing Day

The following must be operational on the IR website before the first day of trading:

• The S-1 and all amendments (or EDGAR links to them)
• The final prospectus (Form 424B4)
• Corporate governance documents (board charters, code of ethics)
• IR contact information
• Stock information and transfer agent contact

Governance Documents — Exchange Requirements

Both NYSE and Nasdaq require listed companies to make specific governance documents publicly available on their websites as a condition of listing. Failure to maintain current, accessible versions of these documents can result in a listing standards deficiency notice. Required documents:

• Audit Committee Charter: Must describe the committee's purpose, composition requirements (including financial expert requirement), and specific responsibilities — including pre-approval of audit and non-audit services and oversight of the external auditor
• Compensation Committee Charter: Required by NYSE; also expected by Nasdaq Global Select Market companies as best practice
• Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter: Same as above; sets out the process for identifying and evaluating director candidates
• Code of Business Conduct and Ethics: Required by both exchanges; must cover conflicts of interest, corporate opportunities, confidentiality, fair dealing, protection of company assets, compliance with laws, and reporting violations. Any waivers of the code for executive officers must be promptly disclosed.
• Corporate Governance Guidelines: Board practices document covering director qualifications, tenure, director education, board evaluation, management succession, and risk oversight — expected by institutional investors and required by ISS/Glass Lewis scoring
• Insider Trading Policy: Required disclosure in the annual 10-K per 2023 SEC rules; institutional investors and proxy advisory firms review the policy for adequacy
• Clawback Policy: Required by SEC rule effective December 2023 — all listed companies must adopt a clawback policy covering recovery of incentive compensation from executive officers in the event of a financial restatement

Event-Driven IR Communications

Beyond the regular quarterly cycle, the IR website is the primary public channel for event-driven disclosures. Common triggers that require IR website updates:

• 8-K filings: Every Form 8-K filed with the SEC should simultaneously appear on the IR website — most platforms pull these automatically from EDGAR
• Investor conference presentations: Slides presented at investor conferences should be posted to the IR website with (or before) the presentation, and are commonly furnished on Form 8-K (Item 7.01) — an announced, open webcast or posted deck satisfies Reg FD without an 8-K
• Non-deal roadshow materials: If the company uses a standard investor presentation in NDR meetings that contains forward-looking information, that presentation should also be posted to the IR website (many companies furnish it on Form 8-K as well)
• Crisis communications: When material adverse events occur (significant customer losses, product recalls, regulatory actions, executive departures), the IR website is often the first place institutional investors check for the official company statement. Having a clear workflow for emergency 8-K filings and IR website updates is part of crisis preparedness.

Annual IR Website Maintenance Checklist

IR websites that are not actively maintained become compliance risks. At minimum, the following items require annual review:

• All governance documents — update for any charter amendments approved at the annual meeting
• Board of directors biographies — update for new directors, retired directors, committee reassignments
• SEC filings — confirm the most recent 10-K, proxy, and all 10-Qs are accessible
• Earnings materials archive — confirm all prior quarterly earnings releases and presentations are searchable and downloadable
• Transfer agent and stock information — confirm the transfer agent contact is current and the stock data feed is functioning
• IR contact information — confirm the current IR contact name, email, and phone number are accurate

IR Website Best Practices — Real Examples

Airbnb — Best-in-Class IR Website Design

Airbnb's investor relations website is frequently cited by IR practitioners as an example of best-in-class design. The site is notable for its visual clarity — financial data is presented in clean, accessible charts rather than dense tables — and its integration of the Airbnb brand aesthetic with SEC disclosure requirements. The site provides multiple ways for investors to consume the same information: a quarterly results page with press release, earnings call replay, and investor presentation slide deck all linked from the same landing page; a financial data section with downloadable Excel models; and a governance section that goes beyond the required exchange disclosures to include the full board committee charters and the company's sustainability disclosures. Critically, Airbnb's IR site is updated within hours of each earnings release — not days — which institutional investors who are building models in real time appreciate significantly.

Coinbase — Crypto-Native IR Approach

Coinbase's IR website reflects the company's crypto-native identity in its disclosure approach. In addition to standard SEC filing links and earnings materials, Coinbase's IR site includes data on trading volume, active users, and assets on platform — metrics that are updated quarterly but presented in a way that reflects the data transparency culture of the crypto industry. Coinbase was also an early adopter of publishing a detailed "shareholder letter" alongside its earnings press release — a practice borrowed from Bezos-era Amazon — that provides management's perspective on the business in more depth than a standard press release. The shareholder letter format has been adopted by several other technology companies as a way to provide more qualitative context alongside quantitative financial results, particularly useful for newly public companies whose business models require more explanation than a traditional earnings press release format allows.