Reporting to Shareholders: The Proposals in the Company Law Review

Abstract

This paper assesses some of the proposals of the Company Law Review for financial reporting. It focuses on acute reporting problems arising from three developments which have gained pace since company law was last reviewed: the rapid inter-penetration of national equity markets; the growing demand for reporting of future prospects; and the surge of financial contracts relying on numbers from the annual report. These developments and their associated problems are outlined first; then the Review's proposals are assessed against them.