Past CFO Commentary

Those of you who follow The Charles Schwab Corporation closely may receive our quarterly financial results through a wire service/email, a market data aggregator, or simply by checking our corporate website.  This morning, we began making our results available via another widely-used platform: Twitter.  You can find our page on www.Twitter.com with the handle @CharlesSchwab. Today's activity includes a Tweet noting the availability of fourth quarter 2015 results with a link to our press release, and follow-ups sharing the headlines from this morning's announcement.

Companies have increasingly leveraged Twitter to share insight about their industry, clients, and initiatives.  Several years ago, the SEC provided guidance on how publicly-traded companies could use social media platforms in compliance with Regulation FD.  Since then, news about financial results has also been increasingly shared and discussed on the platform.  We hope to "join the conversation" – boosting awareness of our business progress and the accessibility of our disclosures – by making our earnings package available via Twitter.

In addition to quarterly earnings releases, we also intend to alert investors to our Business Update events.  Next month, you'll see us Tweet in advance of our Winter Business Update, letting you know the time and place to tune in.  We'll then Tweet as it begins, and afterward share a link to the webcast replay.

For now, we plan to use social media to alert folks that financial information is going out through our established channels.  Our Twitter page will essentially be another place that conveniently links to our regular disclosures.  We will check in with SCHW owners and followers later this year on our financial communication practices and look to refine our approach based on your feedback.  We remain committed to a transparent and effective communications effort.