EU parliament rejects compulsory quarterly reporting directive

The European Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee has voted down a proposal that would have required all publicly traded companies to issue quarterly financial reports.

Insurer groups, including the ABI and the Comité Européen des Assurances, opposed the provision, contained in Article 6 of the proposed Transparency Directive.

In a statement, European Parliament said the proposal would have placed an unnecessary burden on companies, as well as encouraging management to focus only on short-term profitability.

Investors value the quality of information they receive rather than merely the frequency of which they receive it, added European Parliament.

The Directive is part of a larger effort to harmonise financial disclosure requirements throughout the EU member states. It must be agreed upon by the European Parliament which will vote on the Directive in March 20004.