Whenever disclosures will be disseminated in connection with the issuance of obligations by the College, the Disclosure Officer will oversee the process pursuant to the following procedures:
I. Disclosure Procedures for Official Statements.
A. The Disclosure Officer shall select (a) the working group for the transaction, which group may include outside professionals such as disclosure counsel, a municipal advisor and an underwriter (the “Working Group”) and (b) the member of the Working Group responsible for preparing the first draft of the Official Statement.
B. The Disclosure Officer shall review and make comments on the first draft of the Official Statement. Such review shall be done in order to determine that the Official Statement does not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made in the Official Statement not misleading. Particular attention shall be paid to the accuracy of all descriptions, significant information, and financial data regarding the District. Examples include confirming that information relating to the College, including but not limited to demographic changes, the addition or loss of major employers, the addition or loss of major taxpayers or any other nonpublic material information within the knowledge of the Disclosure Officer that could be significantly misleading, is included and properly disclosed. The Disclosure Officer shall also be responsible for ensuring that the financial data presented with regard to the College is accurate and corresponds with the financial information in the College’s possession, including but not limited to information regarding bonded indebtedness, notes, certificates, outstanding leases, tax rates, or any other financial information of the College presented in the Official Statement.
C. After completion of the review set forth in B. above, the Disclosure Officer shall (a) discuss the first draft of the Official Statement with the members of the Working Group and such staff and officials of the College as the Disclosure Officer deems necessary and appropriate and (b) provide comments, as appropriate, to the members of the Working Group. The Disclosure Officer shall also consider comments from members of the Working Group and whether any additional changes to the Official Statement are necessary or desirable to make the document compliant with the requirements set forth in B. above.
D. The Disclosure Officer shall continue to review subsequent drafts of the Official Statement in the manner set forth in B. and C. above.
E. If, in the Disclosure Officer’s reasonable judgment, the Official Statement does not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made in the Official Statement not misleading, the Official Statement may, in the reasonable discretion of the Disclosure Officer, be released for dissemination to the public; provided, however, that the use of the Official Statement must be ratified, approved and authorized by the College Board of Trustees (“Board”).
II. Disclosure Procedures for Annual Financial Information.
A. A report of certain information and events throughout the life of an obligation is described as continuing disclosure undertakings (“Undertaking”). Annual Financial Information is one such report. By December 15 of each year (the same being at least 30 days prior to the last date on which the Annual Financial Information is required to be disseminated pursuant to the related Undertaking, the Disclosure Officer shall begin to prepare (or hire an agent to prepare) the Annual Financial Information. The Disclosure Officer shall also review the audited or unaudited financial statements, as applicable, to be filed as part of the Annual Financial Information (the “Financial Statements”). In addition to the required updating of the Annual Financial Information, the Disclosure Officer should consider whether additional information needs to be added to the Annual Financial Information in order to make the Annual Financial Information, including the Financial Statements, taken as a whole, correct and complete in all material respects. For example, if disclosure of events that occurred subsequent to the date of the Financial Statements would be necessary in order to clarify, enhance or correct information presented in the Financial Statements, in order to make the Annual Financial Information, taken as a whole, correct and complete in all material respects, disclosure of such subsequent events should be made.
B. If, in the Disclosure Officer’s reasonable judgment, the Annual Financial Information, including the Financial Statements, is correct and complete in all material respects, the Disclosure Officer shall file the Annual Financial Information with Electronic Municipal Market Access (“EMMA”), or confirm that such filing is completed by any agent hired by the District for such purpose, within the timeframe allowed for such filing.
III. Disclosure Procedures for Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s (MSRB) EMMA notices.
A. Reportable Events
The Disclosure Officer will prepare (or hire an agent to prepare) Reportable Event Disclosure and file the same with EMMA (or confirm that such filing is completed by an agent hired by the District for such purpose) in a timely manner (not in excess of ten business days after the occurrence of the Reportable Event). Incurrence of a Financial Obligation, if material, or agreement to covenants, events of default, remedies, priority rights, or other similar terms of a Financial Obligation, any of which affect security holders, if material, is a Reportable Event. Upon the incurrence of any Financial Obligation, as such term is defined in the Undertaking, the Disclosure Officer shall review such Financial Obligation and assess whether such Financial Obligation is material. If, in connection with such Financial Obligation, the District has agreed to any covenant, event of default, remedy, priority right or other similar term which affects security holders, the Disclosure Officer shall further review such term and assess whether the same is material. The Disclosure Officer shall prepare a summary of such review. If, in the Disclosure Officer’s reasonable judgment, following consultation with financial or legal professionals as necessary, such Financial Obligation and/or term of such Financial Obligation is deemed material, the Disclosure Officer shall file a summary of such Financial Obligation (or the entire financing document, provided that confidential or sensitive information may be redacted to the extent such redaction does not prevent all material terms from being disclosed) with EMMA not in excess of ten business days after the incurrence of such Financial Obligation.
B. Other EMMA Notices
1. The Disclosure Officer shall prepare (or hire an agent to prepare) the EMMA Notice. The EMMA Notice shall be prepared in the form required by the MSRB.
2. In the case of a disclosure required by an Undertaking, the Disclosure Officer shall determine whether any changes to the EMMA Notice are necessary to make the document compliant with the Undertaking.
3. If, in the Disclosure Officer’s reasonable judgment, the EMMA Notice is correct and complete and, in the case of a disclosure required by an Undertaking, complies with the Undertaking, the Disclosure Officer shall file the EMMA Notice with EMMA (or confirm that such filing is completed by any agent hired by the District for such purpose) within the timeframe allowed for such filing.
IV. Additional Responsibilities of the Disclosure Officer.
A. Maintaining appropriate records of compliance with this Disclosure Policy (including proofs of EMMA filings) and decisions made with respect to issues that have been raised;
B. Evaluating the effectiveness of the procedures contained in this Disclosure Policy; and
C. Making recommendations to the Board as to whether revisions or modifications to this Disclosure Policy are appropriate.
V. General Principles Governing Procedure
A. All participants in the disclosure process should be encouraged to raise potential disclosure items at all times in the process.
B. The process of revising and updating the Disclosures should not be viewed as a mechanical insertion of current numbers. While it is not anticipated that there will be major changes in the form and content of the Disclosures at the time of each update, the Disclosure Officer should consider whether such changes are necessary or desirable in order to make sure the Disclosure does not make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary or desirable, in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading at the time of each update.
C. Whenever the College releases information, whether in written or spoken form, that may reasonably be expected to reach investors, it is said to be “speaking to the market.” When speaking to the market, College officials must be sure that the released information does not make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary or desirable, in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading.
D. While care should be taken not to shortcut or eliminate any steps outlined in this Disclosure Policy on an ad hoc basis, the review and maintenance of the Disclosures is a fluid process and recommendations for improvement of these Disclosure Procedures should be solicited and regularly considered.
E. The Disclosure Officer is authorized to request and pay for attendance at relevant conferences or presentations or annual training sessions conducted by outside counsel, consultants or experts in order to ensure a sufficient level of knowledge for the effective administration of this Disclosure Policy.
Approved 01/27/2022