Effective corporate reporting and disclosure are critical in financial markets to promote vigorous competition, optimal performance, and transparency. This book examines whether existing disclosure frameworks in eight countries with the world's most significant securities exchanges achieve these objectives, and then, drawing on extensive empirical findings, identifies the policies and practices that contribute most to improving the overall quality of listed company reporting and communication. Contending that public disclosure of listed company information is an essential precondition to the long-term efficient operation of financial markets, the book provides analysis of such issues and topics as the following: - arguments for and against mandatory disclosure regimes; - key principles of periodic and continuous disclosure regulation; - tensions between direct and indirect investment in financial markets; - assumptions concerning the need to maintain a privileged role for financial intermediaries; - intermediary, analyst, and research incentives; - protection of individual investors; - selective disclosure; - disclosure of bad news; - the role of accounting standards; - public access to company briefings; - long term performance reporting and analysis; and - company reporting developments. A significant portion of the book provides an overview of disclosure regulation and practice in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore. A highly informative survey looks at company reports, disclosures, and websites of large listed companies, including Microsoft, Citigroup, Teck Resources, Deutsche Bank, BP, Sony, PetroChina Company, BHP Billiton, and Singapore Telecommunications. The book discusses common disclosure issues that arise across jurisdictions, provides valuable insights on the efficacy of existing disclosure regulation and practice, and highlights the important principles, processes, and practices that underpin best practice company disclosure frameworks. It will be welcomed by company boards and executives and their counsel, as well as by policymakers and scholars in the areas of corporate, securities, banking and financial law, accounting, economics and finance.

Corporate disclosure is critical for the functioning of an efficient capital market. Firms provide disclosure through regulated financial reports, including the financial statements, footnotes, management discussion and analysis, and other regulatory filings. In addition, some firms engage in voluntary communication, such as management forecasts, analysts? presentations and conference calls, press releases, internet sites, and other corporate reports. Finally, there are disclosures about firms by information intermediaries, such as financial analysts, industry experts, and the financial press.

This paper examines the relation between the disclosure practices of firms, the number of analysts following each firm, and properties of the analysts' earnings forecasts. Using data from the Financial Analysts Federation Corporate Information Committee Report (FAF Report), we provide evidence that firms with more informative disclosure policies have a larger analyst following, more accurate analyst earnings forecasts, less dispersion among individual analyst forecasts and less volatility in forecast revisions. The results enhance our understanding of the role of analysts in capital markets. Further, they suggest that potential benefits to disclosure include increased investor following, reduced estimation risk and reduced information asymmetry, each of which have been shown to reduce a firm's cost of capital in theoretical research.

What the experts are saying about INVESTMENT ILLUSIONS "One of the most entertaining, readable, and well-informed books onpersonal investing that I have seen. With erudition and wit,Fridson takes aim at the shibboleths, sacred cows, and snakeoilsalesmen of the personal investing industry. Investment Illusionsis a practical and engaging 'how-not-to' guide." --Stuart C.Gilson, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, HarvardUniversity. "Investment Illusions presents much good financial advice and agreat deal of financial history, especially recent financialhistory, in an easy-to-read style. I enjoyed it." --Harry M.Markowitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics, Marvin Speiser Professor ofFinance and Economics, Baruch College. "Once in a while, you read a book which makes you think, 'I wishI'd read this book ten years ago.' Investment Illusions is such abook. I found it highly entertaining as well as instructive--thekind of book you pass on to a friend." --Richard Lehmann,President, Bond Investors Association. "Illusions can seem tangible and yet be fallacious. As usual, MartyFridson uncovers minefields in some of the most importantinvestment fundamentals in a clever and intuitive fashion." --TonyKao, Director of Investment Research, General Motors InvestmentManagement Corporation.