Thomson Financial Introduces Secure Online Communication Tool For Corporate Board Members

Thomson BoardLink Streamlines Workflow and Provides Vital Information Anywhere, Anytime


New York, NY, 09/21/2005
Thomson Financial, an operating unit of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC, NYSE: TOC) and leading provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community, today announced the launch of Thomson BoardLink™, a secure online communications tool designed to streamline the task of communicating with geographically disparate board members, ease the difficulty of scheduling board and committee meetings, and securely distribute proprietary corporate information. In addition, Thomson BoardLink provides a rich reference library of third-party resources, including Sarbanes-Oxley and industry best practices as well as information from Thomson Financial data sources.

In the Sarbanes-Oxley era, boards of directors and the professionals who serve them are under increasing pressure to improve the governance processes of their companies. As a result, directors are being held more accountable for the actions of their company, and corporate secretaries must increasingly prioritize board communication and work harder to improve governance processes. A recent study completed by Thomson Financial indicates that corporate officers spend an average of 30 hours per month sending information to or interacting with the board.

Thomson BoardLink, a proprietary solution built by Thomson Financial, is designed to ease the burden on corporate secretaries while meeting the communication and information needs of directors. Combining a powerful secure online collaboration tool with seamless access to business and financial information, Thomson BoardLink addresses the needs for board members and corporate secretaries to communicate quickly and efficiently, while keeping sensitive corporate data secure.

“Effective corporate governance relies fundamentally on providing directors with relevant, timely, and independent information,” said Greg Radner, senior vice president of Corporate Executive Services at Thomson Financial. “Thomson BoardLink gives corporate board members and officers the ability to better leverage electronic means for sharing secure information in order to manage their communications more effectively.”

Using the BoardLink workflow tools, corporate secretaries can easily distribute relevant company information, real-time business information, and reference materials in a highly secure environment. BoardLink’s valuable third-party information and best practices resources also help directors stay more informed and save them time and effort in board and committee work.

Thomson BoardLink features a number of unique capabilities designed specifically for corporate boards of directors and corporate secretaries.

For Corporate Secretaries, the service includes:

State-of-the-art security to protect critical board information, featuring two-factor login authentication via an RSA SecurID token from RSA Security.

Secure document storage on an encrypted database server with document retention and storage rules.

Board Book Builder tool for compiling and distributing board books and other important board documents.

Workflow tools to assist in scheduling and conducting meetings, creating meeting agendas and invitations, and communicating with remote members of the board.

E-mail alert capability that notifies users when new information has been posted to the system for their review.


For Board Members, the service includes:

Ability to access board information online anytime, anywhere using a username/password and rotating security key code powered by RSA Security. Directors belonging to other boards using BoardLink can toggle easily between different board sites without having to log off and log back in.

Simple, easy-to-read user interface so directors can quickly navigate the site and find the critical information they need.

Access to award-winning Thomson Financial data allowing board members to review market-moving information regarding their company and peers.

A reference library containing a fully searchable catalog of hundreds of pre-screened articles, studies, Web training sessions, and seminars to help boards stay informed about the latest regulations and best practices.


About Thomson Financial
Thomson Financial is a US$1.73 billion provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community. Through the widest range of products and services in the industry, Thomson Financial helps clients in more than 70 countries make better decisions, be more productive and achieve superior results. Thomson Financial is part of The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to more than 20 million business and professional customers in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With revenues of US$8.10 billion, The Thomson Corporation lists its common shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC.)

Contact Information

Kerri Shepherd

Manager, Public Relations

Thomson Corporation

Contact via E-mail