FASB invites comments on new disclosure framework.

• Author: Cheney, Glenn Alan
• Position: ACCOUNTING - Financial Accounting Standards Board - Brief article

The burden of financial disclosure has long riled American companies. Too often, note the companies, these disclosures seem irrelevant to anyone's needs, not to mention costly and cumbersome to produce. At the same time, however, investors are always clamoring for more information.

In June, Leslie F. Seidman, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (pictured right), in speaking before the Compliance Week Annual Conference, admitted that "over the years, the FASB has taken an ad hoc approach to disclosure." The result, she said, has been significant gaps in information and great detail on seemingly irrelevant information.

FASB has recently taken a step toward correcting the problem by issuing a call for comments on ideas for creating a disclosure framework.

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As roughly foreseen at this early stage, the framework would include a decision process for the board, flexible disclosure requirements that allow companies to focus on...