SEC's mailbox: Semiannual reporting is a bad idea, say investors

In a proposed rule change, the SEC declared that allowing public companies to file financial reports only twice a year will coax more of them to enter the public markets. But many investors aren't buying, instead pointing to a different main culprit: macro conditions.

This skepticism—and even outright rejection—could make SEC chair Paul Atkins' ambitions to overhaul IPO regulations more challenging. The semiannual rule is one of three IPO-friendly proposals the SEC floated this spring, alongside potential changes to offering registrations and expanding the emerging growth status to lighten disclosure requirements.

While the SEC has been attempting for years to get more companies to go public via friendlier regulation, such as the ability to confidentially file draft registrations, this change would run counter to what investors actually want, as numerous asset managers, pension funds and financial data firms told the agency in more than 2,000 public comment letters.

"It will reduce transparency, widen information asymmetry, and weaken accountability between management and shareholders," wrote Calpers CEO Marcie Frost, who heads the largest public pension in the US, in a June 19

Fuente original: Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/secs-mailbox-semiannual-reporting-bad-222726948.html)