Who should attend?
This roundtable will be of interest to senior decision makers within listed companies, particularly Finance Directors, Chief Financial Offers and Company Secretaries.
Background
Over the last six months, the FRC has been consulting with different participants involved in regulating, communicating and using corporate information to understand if complexity and lack of relevance in corporate reporting is really a problem and, if so, what are the causes. The FRC’s view so far is that complexity is a problem and the causes are widespread and varied.
The FRC are now trying to formulate recommendations aimed at reducing complexity and improving relevance in corporate reporting. They intend to publish their recommendations as a discussion paper.
As the causes of complexity are so widespread and varied, the FRC will not be able to reduce complexity by itself. The FRC will seek to use their discussion paper to encourage key influencers and participants in corporate reporting including regulators, users and preparers, to reduce complexity and make corporate financial reports more relevant and easy to understand.
The following are the main topics that we intend to discuss at the roundtable:
1) Regulations
Regulations are constantly changing and many people report that they struggle to keep up with this change. The coming months will see more pressure for change due to market events and the US Convergence plans. How much change is too much? How can regulators build a good case for necessary changes?
2) Comparability
Some say the quest for comparability in financial reporting has resulted in a proliferation of detailed rules. To what extent is comparability in financial reporting achievable? Is it desirable?
3) Effective communication
A focus on effective communication in corporate reports can help overcome the complexity caused by regulations and complex underlying transactions. What do you think are the biggest barriers to effective communication? How can these barriers be removed (or at least managed)?
4) Risks of increased complexity
What are the biggest risks for increased complexity in corporate reporting over the next ten years? How can these risks be reduced?
If there are other relevant issues that you would like to raised then please inform Andrew Wallace via email at awallace@londonstockexchange.com
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