FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION: FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICES - 2019 EDITION

143 The law sets out the methods to be used for calculating the proportion of capital held by employees 187 . 3  z IMPLEMENTATION OF FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION Readers may refer to the document published on February 2, 2017 on the AMF’s website entitled Communication financière des valeurs moyennes: mieux comprendre les attentes des analystes financiers et des investisseurs professionnels (“Financial communication for mid-caps: better understand the expectations of financial analysts and professional investors”). The document was produced in collaboration between the AMF, the French Asset Management Association (Association Française de la Gestion Financière – AFG) and the French Society of Financial Analysts (Société Française des Analystes Financiers – SFAF) , and presents the main principles deriving from the regulatory framework, the expectations of analysts and managers with regard to information, and areas for improvement in current practices. INVOLVEMENT OF EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT While regulatory, periodic and ongoing financial information constitute the starting point from which investors forge their opinion of an issuer, investment decisions also take into account other important factors. As the first criterion for investors is confidence in the company’s management, executives are increasingly involved in the company’s financial communication and in meeting investors. This can be particularly challenging for small- and medium-sized companies. It is the responsibility of Investor Relations to manage requests for meetings and assess their relevance in light of the executives’ many other commitments. Several criteria must be taken into consideration, such as the interest that the investor represents for the company, the size and the investment strategy of the institution to which the investor is affiliated, and the historical relationship. For executives, the aim of these meetings is to: n present the results of their strategy, ensure that it has been fully understood and identify the highlights of their company’s earnings; n share their view of the macroeconomic and competitive environment with the investors; n discuss more general current issues and respond to any questions emanating from the financial market community. 187 – See Law no. 2015-990 of August 6, 2015, amending article L. 225-102 of the French Commercial Code. Transferable shares (the previous condition for non-transferability of shares has been abolished) and free shares granted to employees pursuant to approval of a shareholders’ meeting held after August 7, 2015 are now included in the calculation.