UK IR Society Cautions Against Increased Reporting Burden
31 March 2011
The UK’s IR Society has cautioned against increasing the reporting burden on listed companies as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) considers ways to make corporate reports more valuable to investors.
The IRS commented:
"The extent and complexity of the regulations and guidance on annual reports is already demanding. One must look in different places for rules on reporting - why (Companies Act), what (Companies Act and Listing Rules), how (FRC ASB RS1, and the Governance Code), when (Listing Rules and DTR's). Simplifying - not adding to - this morass would be helpful, allowing companies to focus on quality, not quantity. It would also allow the Governance Code (and the company's part of the Stewardship Code bargain) time to bed in.
"Indeed, the growth of previous initiatives on going concern, sustainability, risk, the business model and others identified by regulators as ‘key', has already expanded the annual report pagination.
"The FRC faces a difficult dilemma. Expanding the rule base, or extending the guidance by redrafting the RS1 guidance, creates a natural template for preparers to follow, with resulting box ticking. We would prefer to see broad scale guidance given to companies, which allows companies to tell their own equity story."
To read the letter in full, go to:
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