Disclosure issues- voluntary versus mandatory

Now a day’s most of the companies are trying to find out ways to attract as much capital as possible. With the continuation to wards market globalisation the urge to introduce harmonise global accounting standards have been increased. In order to attract larger amount of capital in the different regions of the world it is important for the companies to present the information in the financial statements, which is understandable by a diverse group of people. Most of the world organisations are trying to find out ways towards the general standards.The formation of IASC in 1973, was the result of such efforts by different countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, UK and US. This international body has issued more than 30 International Accounting Standards and has given a general presentation of the framework of the preparation and information availability of information in the financial statements. Although the organisation has adopted English as its formal language but the standards are translated into many other languages used in the world to make them understandable by as many people as possible.The main hindrance in the way of the use of common standards between the nations is that they are not legally imposed. The use of International Accounting Standards is a voluntary act of the countries. (Taylor & Pincus, 2002; p. 39) 2. Definition of Risk: Smith (1999) defines risk as a decision expressed by a range or possible outcomes with attached probabilities. When there is a range of possible outcomes but no assumed probabilities, there is only uncertainty (ibid. ).Hertz & Thomas (1984) have suggested that â€Å". Risk means uncertainty and the results of uncertainty†¦ risk refers to a lack of predictability about problem structure, outcomes or consequences in a decision or planning situation. † Risk is defined, as a bad notion is the most important stimulants for life. Uncertainty, far from being a symptom of im perfection, is in fact a natural property of economics, indeed, probably of all life systems . . .. Uncertainty is the name of the game in the service economy. (Giarini, 2000)According to (Feynman, 1998) it is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn't get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man. † Adams (1995) defines risk as the â€Å"balancing act† in which the actors â€Å"balance the expected rewards of their actions against the perceived costs of failure† in a world in which both it and our perceptions of it are constantly being transformed by our effect on the world and its effect on us.In a ISO/TMB Risk Management Terminology Paper (1999) risk is defined as combination of the probability of an event and its negative or positive consequences,† The royal Society (1983) defined ri sk as â€Å"a particular adverse event occurs during a stated period of time, or results from a particular challenge. † Importance of Risk Disclosure: Murphy (1999) sees Financial reporting and financial statements in particular can be thought of as a lens through which one could view a business.Financial reporting provides a broader view of the business than that provided by financial statements only. In other words, financial reporting encompassed financial statements, but it is not limited to financial statements. It is assumed that by providing information that meets the needs of investors and creditors, the company also meet the information needs of other external parties, it would be able to provide superior information if it treated each potential group of external users separately and prepared different information for each group.This approach is impractical, however, and the company instead out for preparing what is referred to as general-purpose information that we believe is useful to multiple user groups. With the change in the economic environment the list of factors of production has included intangible assets such as information and knowledge. The intangible assets are replacing the old sets of assets. â€Å"In order to keep on delivering profits the business must keep on investing in different projects in order to improve their organizational capabilities.These investments improve the capabilities of the business to respond to the customer demands, the external contacts of business reduces the risks attached to the products, internal integration improve the productivity of organization continuous experimenting not only improve the value creation but also enhance the image of the organization in business. These investments are very important for the businesses to survive it is necessary to measure the cost, inventory, space and quality savings measured by traditional capital budgeting systems.Most of the traditional accounting techniques measure the future flow of income by undertaking an investment which is not easy to calculate since the stream of income is expected to increase in future and the managers cannot decide to assign the right value to the future benefit. Rather than that it is easier to the calculate investment. This is due to the difficulty the future organisation face in calculating the future benefits; most organisations normally do not undertake new investments. (Enterweb, 2005)The use of intangible assets has created difficulties on the other hand also. People believe in what they see. The process of interaction of ideas and assets has been revolutionised. Developing trust and understanding with stakeholders is very important in order to turn knowledge in value. Today, the companies are required to report the performances not only on financial basis but also should under cover the issues such as vision, strategy, risks, value drivers, KPIs etc.The founders of the Global Association of Risk Profes sionals (GARP), Lev Borodovsky and Marc Lore, wrote in Risk Professional, â€Å"no matter what types of methods are used, the key to risk management is delivering risk information, in a timely and succinct fashion, while ensuring that key decision makers have the time, the tools, and the incentive to act upon it. † (Lev & Lore, 1997) Externally reported financial information is largely historical in nature. It looks back in time and reports the results of events and transaction that already have occurred.While historical information is very useful in assessing the future, the information itself is more about the past than it is about the future. A comparison of the historical trends with the future trends can be found helpful in better understanding of the information by the shareholders and other related people. (Financial Economists Roundtable, 1996) The improvement in public scrutiny and controlled market discipline is largely dependent upon the meaningful and accurate dis closure of information.This not only helps the shareholders but also helps the organisation to conduct business in a safe and efficient manner by achieving their targets through improving their risk management processes. The researchers find many gaps in the appropriate disclosure of risk by the organisations. Many surveys have been conducted, a wide variety of studies and interviews from the information users and shareholders have pointed out towards gaps in the currently disclosed information. The demand of provision of accurate and timely information is increasing.Business reporting effect people from every work of life an effective allocation of resources strengthens an economy by promoting productivity, innovations and an efficient and liquid market. Adequate information plays an important role in reporting the risks and opportunities of investing in business venture. To make effective decisions people need accurate information. The completeness and timeliness of information en hances the probability of taking the most appropriate decisions by the investors.Perhaps the foremost social and ethical responsibility levied upon private and public organisation in recent decades is the adoption of fair and just accounting practices. This responsibility is being increasingly codified in laws and various accounting standards. Its influence is becoming increasingly pervasive through a constant series of new and improved standards as well as steady enlargement in the size and scope of administering agencies.The voluntary disclosure of information by the companies will lead to the competitive advantage for the company in the market and will provide help to gain enormous amounts of capital all over the world. US Regulations for Risk disclosure: The US GAAP was founded in 1930 after one year of the historical depression in the US stock market in 1929. Till 1934 the companies kept on disclosing the information voluntarily. SEC was established in 1934 with the authority t o establish the accounting standards but also to make sure that these standards are used in the preparation of the disclosures.Since the issue was very complex the private sector also started assisting the SEC in 1938 in order to settle the accounting standards. The most important and unique characteristic of the US GAAP is that its strength is tested in the market in which retail investors with banks and entrepreneurs invest. Now FASB is responsible to set US accounting standards. The ultimate responsibility of protecting the interest of the financial information users lies on SEC and it is fulfilling its functions since decades by constantly forming and developing set of accounting standards according to changing needs.A history of 70 years of interpretation and implementation of US GAAP in different industries has make it one of the most reliable and applicable set of standards. This application of 70 years has helped the accounting practitioners and professionals in filling the gaps and flaws in these standards which has not make them perfect but improved their reliability and tested their strength. The main hurdle in the way of adoption of IFRS for US is that the application and strength of IFRS is not tested for as long as the US GAAP.IFRS are relatively newly developed as compare to US GAAP. The decision to change the US GAAP into the IFRS cannot be taken in a snapshot the process will be time taking, as a huge change is needed to be brought. The EU adoption of the IFRS was very steady and easier as compare to the US. This is because the unification of 25 countries in a union with different economic, cultural and social background is a big task in itself hence the change of accounting standards is a relatively important but small part of it.Despite all the differences in the financial market environment the U. S see the implementation of the IFRS as an opportunity to implement and introduce the better standards to improve the creditors accessibility. Th e process of convergence has started of the U. S GAAP in the IFRS, which will come to success if mutual consensus will be developed. The cutting edge IFRS has that they have prepared by the most experienced and brilliant accounting professionals but has a negative point of not having a long history of implementation and strength testing.International Accounting Standards: In the January of the year 2006 the accounts of all the listed companies shifted to the International Financial Reporting Standards. Under the International Financial Reporting standards all the listed companies should present their fair information regarding the company’s financial position, performance and cash flows. Despite the pressure from the International accounting agencies, some of the Governments are still reluctant to impose International accounting standards in their stock markets.Although there are big differences in the accounting standards in most of the economies of the world but the main ai m of all the accounting systems is to ensure fair and transparent corporate governance and financial reporting. The adoption of the International standards will lead to decrease in the accounting scandals and increase the adoption of common standard all over the world. Conclusion: Degree of Information varies largely from institution to institution. The amount of information made available to the shareholders largely depends upon the volume of financial instruments and the type of financial instruments used by the company.It is estimated that the shareholders of a financial institution is more required to have the risk related information as compare to that of the shareholder of an industrial company. Financial risks are the important part of the financial business operations on the other hands it is generally a by-product of an industrial company’s daily business. At the very minimum, a company should keep shareholders informed about the types of financial instruments used a nd their purposes.It must make a distinction between instruments that are used for hedging and those that are not, as well as the relevant accounting policies. It should disclose the notional principal of these instruments, their maturity, cash requirements, market value and credit risk. It should also tell shareholders how the firm monitors the values of these instruments. Where possible, firms should also disclose the firm’s market risks; if quantitative information is not possible then a qualitative discussion should be included. (13 Questions on Risk Management)