Russell Searancke wrote article

[TomCrooz]

Does IOC have a legal responsibility to respond to this?

Material information as defined by US courts:

“if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important in deciding …” whether to take some action with respect to a company’s securities, such as how to vote in response to a proxy solicitation or whether to buy, sell or hold the securities."

I would certainly think that if this rumor were true, it would fit the definition of material information. Reg FD states:Under Regulation FD, whenever a public company, or

any person acting on its behalf, discloses material

nonpublic information to certain enumerated persons,

the company must disclose that information to the

public. The timing of the required public disclosure

depends on whether the selective disclosure was

intentional or unintentional. Accordingly, the company

must make this public disclosure (i) simultaneously, in

the case of intentional disclosures, or (ii) promptly

afterwards, in the case of unintentional disclosures.