Homework questions:
1. Do you think company executives should be held liable for "faulty" disclosures? For example, if they made disclosures about projected deals or products that did not come to fruition and an investor purchased stock speculating that this would happen. Should the investors be able to sue? What if they had not made the disclosure and the events did occur?
2. FASB's proposed Amendment to FAS 5 Contingencies has been put back out for redeliberations, after the initial comment period sustained some heavy objections to the new disclosure requirements. Read the articles and material on this proposed amendment and take a side-do you think that the disclosures required will be too onerous and reveal too much proprietary information? Or do investors need to have this information to make informed decisions?
3. Look at the financial statements for Mueller Water Products, linked under Week 13 Homework Assignment. Go to the Subsequent Events section Note #19, F39 of the report. Read the disclosure of the intent to close one of the manufacturing operations. If these had not been disclosed and you were relying on the annual report to make an investment decision, how might the lack of this information have affected your decision?
4. Do you think that IFRS has "better" disclosure requirements than GAAP?
Discussions Questions
1. Which additional disclosures would you like to see
Are there any disclosures not currently required that you think would benefit investors? If you were an investor today, buying a stock-what might you like to read in the footnotes that would make you have more confidence that the price you are paying for the stock is a correct value?
2. Too Many Disclosures
Do you think too much information in the disclosures leads to overload and "reader numbness"? In other words, there is so much information that it is too much for all but the experts to digest? Or do you think that an investor (or entity engaging in business, such as a banker or creditor) really receives value from the disclosures and it is up to them to educate themselves enough about the disclosures to use them wisely.