Chamber Commends New SEC Financial Reporting Advisory Group

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today commended Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox for forming an advisory group to study the way companies file financial reports with the intent of making the reports easier for investors to understand.

"The SEC is moving in the right direction to untangle the complex web of financial reporting," said David Hirschmann, Chamber senior vice president. "With one in ten public companies restating their earnings last year, it is clear we must improve the financial reporting system to make sure the system serves investors, issuers, and auditors better."

The SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting will examine the complexities of the current system and recommend how to make financial reports clearer to investors, reduce costs and unnecessary burdens for accountants.

The Chamber is urging the new advisory group to examine four specific areas: reduce the cost and complexity and increase the reliability and comparability of financial statements; revise restatement thresholds so that only truly material issues lead to financial restatements; ensure a stable and viable public global company audit function; narrow the accounting and auditing expectations gap of investors, intermediaries, and policy makers.

The two-dozen Advisory Committee members are expected to be appointed by the SEC from a variety of backgrounds. The Committee will be led by a member of the Chamber's Bi-Partisan Commission on U.S. Capital Markets Bob Pozen, who is chairman of MFS Investment Management.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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