Regulating the Operating and Financial Review (OFR)

ASIC’s proposals  to regulate the contents of the OFR

 

ASIC’s proposals  to regulate the contents of the OFR  in Consultation Paper 187 Effective disclosure in an operating and financial review may represent a missed opportunity to explore the optimal ways in which the information already available to the market can be collated and presented without unnecessary and possibly confusing duplication.

 

 

 

CP 187 recognizes that important information about a company already exists in many places, but it does not explore options that might be available to deliver this information in any manner other than as a précis of matters available elsewhere.

 

 

 

Whilst this paper is predicated on the requirements of legislation, it represents a lost opportunity to explore more fully who the users of this information might be and how their needs could be best addressed.   The Paper seems to consider the needs of a wider spectrum of users than those envisaged by the Corporations Act, by referring to “investors” rather than using the term “members” used in the Act.

 

 

 

In view of that implied extended brief for the Paper to cover potential as well as actual members, we neither believe that that the term “investors” is sufficiently precise when many investors get their information through intermediaries (such as brokers and financial advisers) nor do we think that is appropriate to limit the users to present and future investors. We therefore pose the following questions in respect of the OFR:

• Is it supposed to provide information to analysts?

• Is it supposed to be for the benefit of sophisticated investors such as fund managers?

• Is it supposed to provide information for a broad spectrum of non-analyst investors?
   
• Should it not also be directed towards creditors or employees as users?

 

 

In our view if these questions were addressed, the answers to a number of the questions express or implicit in this paper would be answered including:

• How detailed should the commentary be;

• How could it best be presented and through what medium; and

• The extent of the unreasonable prejudice exemption.

     To see the full details of our submission, click on the PDFs below:

ASIC Response to Questions.pdf

ASIC Regarding Operating and Financial Review.pdf