Summary of joint outreach event on quality financial reporting
05 Sep 2014
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS) and the Association Belge des Analystes Financiers (ABAF), the Association of Certified International Investment Analysts (ACIIA) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have made available a report of the discussions held during their second outreach event held on 25 June 2014 to discuss what role investors and advisers can play in ensuring quality financial reporting.
The topics discussed at the meeting included:
- Current use of financial reporting by investors — The group agreed that financial statements are used as the main source of information for all users when reviewing companies, however, the availability of information may vary depending on the size of the company. The EFRAG stressed that it is important that information in financial statements are relevant and is conducting a study to understand how the information is used.
- Interactions between financial reporting and long-term investment — The group had a variety of views on how to make capital markets more efficient and reduce the cost of capital, especially for long-term infrastructure and sustainable energy. Further, the group had different views on the role of fair value.
- Giving directions for, and assessing, financial reporting standards — Investor feedback indicated that they are focused on how information is presented, as well as a company’s profitability, risk and liquidity. In addition, they are concerned with volatility outside management’s control and stewardship. The group agreed that volatility should be expected and should reflect economic volatility instead of being caused by accounting.
- Confidence in financial report — The development of high quality financial statements will increase investor confidence and trust.
- Influence on standard setting — The group stressed that the involvement of investors is a key component in the standard-setting process.
For more information, see the report on the IASB's website.