FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2001-51 SEC Announces Agenda and List of Participants for Portals Roundtable Washington, DC, May 17, 2001 - As previously announced, on May 23, 2001, Acting Chairman Laura S. Unger will host a public roundtable discussion on issues related to relationships between broker-dealers and Internet web sites. With the growing complexity of the securities business and the expanding use of technology, the question of who is a broker is arising with increasing frequency. The goal of the Portals Roundtable is to better inform the Commission on these issues. Live audio of the discussion will be webcast free of charge by StreamOnSite.com. The webcast will be available live and later archived on the Commission's homepage at www.sec.gov. A full agenda and a list of participants for the roundtable are attached. # # # United States Securities and Exchange Commission PORTALS ROUNDTABLE: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BROKER-DEALERS AND INTERNET WEB SITES AGENDA OPENING REMARKS OF THE COMMISSION (1:00 - 1:15) PANEL I: WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF FINANCIAL PORTALS AND INTERNET MARKETING? (1:15 - 2:45) A. What's happening outside of the financial services area on the Internet? Brief presentation by Donna L. Hoffman, Professor and Co- Director of eLab, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University * What are some of the more common types of Internet marketing arrangements outside the financial services area? * In general, what are some of the more common types of compensation models for Internet marketing arrangements outside the financial services area? - Why have compensation models shifted toward "pay-for- performance"? * Do "pay-for-performance" compensation models blur the line between advertising and substantive content and between advertiser and content provider? B. What's happening in the financial services area on the Internet? * What are some of the more common types of marketing arrangements between broker-dealers and Internet web site operators (including both financial and non-financial web site operators)? * In general, do "pay-for-performance" compensation arrangements make sense from a business perspective for broker-dealers? For web site operators? C. How do broker-dealer web sites and other financial web sites differ? * How do the informational content and functions of broker-dealer web sites differ from the content and functions of other financial web sites? * How does account aggregation work from a customer perspective? How does an aggregation platform enable customers to view, update, and manage their assets from a web site? D. What role do the NASD rules play? Brief presentation by R. Clark Hooper, Executive Vice President, Strategic Programs, NASD Regulation, Inc. * How do NASD advertising and suitability rules affect the content and functionality of broker-dealer web sites? * How do NASD rules affect the ability of online broker- dealers to compete with financial web site operators? BREAK (2:45 - 3:00) PANEL II: WHERE SHOULD WE DRAW THE REGULATORY LINE? (3:00 - 4:30) A. What is a broker? * What factors should the Commission consider in determining whether a web site operator is a "broker"? * Should the types of compensation received by a web site operator from a registered broker-dealer affect the "broker" analysis? If so, which types of compensation are most relevant to this analysis? B. What are the investor protection issues? * What relationships between broker-dealers and third- party web site operators raise investor protection concerns? - Are the lines blurred between broker-dealer web sites and other web sites (due to, for example, framing, co- branding, or similarities in the "look and feel" of the web sites)? - Do certain compensation arrangements heighten investor protection concerns? C. What are the alternatives to broker-dealer registration? * Where investor protection issues arise on the Internet, are there less burdensome alternatives than broker-dealer registration that would accomplish the same purposes? United States Securities and Exchange Commission PORTALS ROUNDTABLE: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BROKER-DEALERS AND INTERNET WEB SITES PLACE: William O. Douglas Room 1C30 Securities and Exchange Commission 450 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20549 DATE: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 TIME: 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. OPENING REMARKS OF THE COMMISSION (1:00 - 1:15) PANEL I: WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF FINANCIAL PORTALS AND INTERNET MARKETING? (1:15 - 2:45) Moderator: Laura S. Unger, Acting Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Panelists William Bishop, Executive Vice President of Business Development, CBS MarketWatch.com, Inc. Craig Gibson, Vice President, America Online, Inc. or Katherine Ennis Wychulis, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, America Online, Inc. Julio Gomez, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gomez, Inc. Lawrence T. Greenberg, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, The Motley Fool, Inc. Donna L. Hoffman, Professor and Co-Director of eLab, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University R. Clark Hooper, Executive Vice President, Strategic Programs, NASD Regulation, Inc. Alexander Hungate, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Reuters America Inc. Theodore A. Levine, Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, UBS PaineWebber Inc. John Scheibel, Washington Counsel and Director of Government Relations, Yahoo! Inc. Gregg Sharenow, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank/National Discount Brokers Fran Smallson, Assistant General Counsel and Director, Intuit, Inc. BREAK (2:45 - 3:00) PANEL II: WHERE SHOULD WE DRAW THE REGULATORY LINE? (3:00 - 4:30) Moderator: Laura S. Unger, Acting Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Panelists Brandon Becker, Partner, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering W. Hardy Callcott, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Robert L. D. Colby, Deputy Director, Division of Market Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Anne C. Flannery, First Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated Michael Hogan, Managing Director, CSFBdirect Inc. Jeffrey S. Holik, Vice President and Acting General Counsel, NASD Regulation, Inc. Ellen L. S. Koplow, Acting General Counsel, Ameritrade Holding Corporation David Lipton, Professor, Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America Andre E. Owens, Partner, Schiff Hardin & Waite John Polanin, Jr., Executive Director and Managing Attorney for Region Americas Legal, Equities Section, UBS Warburg LLC Steven W. Stone, Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Dr. Harold P. Wittman, Member, Board of Directors, and Secretary, Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors