Quarterly reports on future FSA agenda
The Financial Services Authority is to investigate the possibility of making all UK plcs publish quarterly financial reports when it takes control of UK listings in November.
Patrick Humphris, a spokesperson for the FSA’s Listings Authority, said quarterly reports would be considered as part of a ‘wider review of all listing rules’ and would take about 18 months to complete.
‘We will inherit the listing rules unchanged from the London Stock Exchange in November. A review of these rules is planned and quarterly reports are just one of many issues to be considered,’ he told AccountancyAge.com.
The idea of quarterly company reports is not new to the UK. Many companies already produce quarterly results, as well as US companies with secondary listings in London. Across the Atlantic, it’s compulsory for public companies to produce results every three months.
Humphris said comments made by Ken Rushton, the next head of the Listings Authority, that he planned to introduce compulsory quarterly reports, were not made on behalf of the FSA. Rushton will take office on 6 August.
At present public companies have to publish accounts every six months, but pressure has been building on FDs to increase this frequency.
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