EC approach to non-financial reporting disclosure too prescriptive

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has warned against the ‘direction of travel’ the European Commission is adopting with regards to proposals for guidelines for reporting non-financial information, saying there is a danger they may be too prescriptive and undermine attempts to provide clear and concise corporate reporting.

In its response to the Commission consultation on Non-binding guidelines for reporting of non-financial information by companies, the FRC says: ‘While we believe that guidance on non-financial reporting can be useful, we have some concerns about the direction of travel of the European Commission proposals. Any guidance should be principles based, should not go beyond the scope of the directive and should provide member states with flexibility to use their own guidance.’

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