President Donald Trump addresses the press before boarding Air Force One on September 14. Ken Cedeno/Reuters
As reported by CNN
In New York, as part of an effort to rethink the U.S. economy, President Donald Trump supported ending the long-standing practice of publicly releasing quarterly financial results by public companies, which signals a significant shift in corporate reporting and its impact on long-term decision-making.
This step could reduce pressure from short-term assessments on executives, but at the same time deprive investors of more timely data on the health of the business and the real economy. Among critics are Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and Warren Buffett, as well as Hillary Clinton, who called quarterly capitalism “deeply troubling”.
In regulatory terms, it concerns a possible review of SEC reporting: regulatory constraints on quarterly reporting often reduce the number of public companies, and the Long-Term Stock Exchange plans to file a petition asking to allow companies to report every six months; the governments of the EU and the United Kingdom had previously moved to six-month periods, and in 2018 Trump proposed that the SEC consider such a transition.
“This will save money and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies; have you ever heard the claim: ‘In China there is a 50–100 year horizon for corporate governance, while we run our companies on a quarterly basis’? That’s not good!”
Following this, market assessments emerged: investors and regulators are grappling with questions about how the new system will affect data and their availability amid times of economic volatility.
“This idea came at the right time.”
As a result of the discussions, market players are weighing the potential benefits for corporate entities and the risks to the transparency of market data. On the one hand, moving to less frequent reporting could reduce administrative costs and focus attention on long-term strategic goals; on the other hand, clear mechanisms are needed to ensure data accessibility for investors during economic fluctuations. Regulators and business associations grapple with how to balance transparency, stability, and the convenience of regulatory norms to support economic growth.
Outlook for Business and Investment
If these changes take effect, a lengthy adaptation period for corporations and their shareholders is expected. Investors may turn to more measured analytical approaches, focusing on long-term factors – from technology development and digital transformation to risk management and resilience of business models. At the same time, regulators should establish clear transparency standards and ensure convenient access to material information in accessible formats to support market confidence and economic growth.
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