Scottish institute tell DTI to back off OFR
The details of the operating and financial review should be decided by the Accounting Standards Board not the government, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland has urged.
Link: Institute slams OFR proposals
In response to the Department of Trade & Industry’s Draft Regulations on the Operating and Financial Review Directors’ Report ICAS argued that the detailed content should be left to the ASB’s forthcoming standard on the subject.
Kevin Sweeney, convenor of the ICAS Business Law Committee, said: ‘We believe that the regulations should set out the minimum requirements i.e. that quoted companies should publish an annual Operating and Financial Review (OFR) and leave the Accounting Standards Board to introduce a standard as to what should be included within an OFR.
‘The adoption of such an approach will allow for the standard to be updated on a timely basis as and when necessary. If such detailed disclosure requirements are embedded in legislation, they may end up with companies focusing on compliance with the detail rather than giving a review which embodies the spirit of the OFR, that is – a picture of the company at a point in time.’