Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Words, words, words

FASB (the Financial Accounting Standards Board) wants to make it easier for corporations to withhold important financial information from shareholders. And they're doing it very simply by changing the word "could" to "would". Currently, corporations are required to make financial disclosures of information that “could” influence investors. FASB wants to change this so that corporate disclosure would be required only when there is a “substantial likelihood” that information “would” significantly alter investor decisions.

A related 2015 survey by researchers from Columbia, Duke, Emory and the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that the nearly 400 financial executives surveyed believe 20 percent of firms intentionally distort their earnings figures by an average of 10 percent.

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