FRC publishes corporate reporting recommendations

The Financial Reporting (FRC) has published a paper discussing proposals for the future of corporate reporting.

The proposals include: embracing technological opportunities, forming a model that enables flexible reporting and creating ‘‘objective-driven reports that accommodate the interests of a wider group of stakeholders’’.

The published paper criticised annual reports for being too long and information being difficult to access.

Comments by stakeholders are invited until 5 February 20201.

Mark Babington, the FRC’s executive director of Regulatory Standards, said: ‘‘As the UK’s corporate reporting framework has evolved, annual reports have become a vehicle of convenience for ever-more information, however, this has undermined their purpose and usability. 

‘‘The future of corporate reporting discussion paper proposes a more agile approach that is responsive to the needs of users of accounts. To build trust in business we need a modern corporate reporting system that is transparent, flexible and puts users of corporate reporting at its heart.’’

He added: ‘‘We look forward to hearing views from our stakeholders.’’