Every statement is a record

Directors increasingly face pressure to comment on matters well beyond the business. Each statement becomes evidence of what the board knew and when it knew it, and each can be read back in litigation years later.

That does not argue for silence. It argues for deliberation, and for a process that is written down before it is needed.

A short test

We ask boards three questions. Does the issue touch the company’s operations or obligations? Is the board the right voice, rather than management? And would the statement survive a careful reading by a hostile party? When the answer to all three is yes, speak plainly.