Capital market experts emphasized accurate and timely financial reporting by mentioning that it affected a company’s reputation in the capital market and reflected the state of the company.
In a seminar titled “Financial Reporting and Disclosures: Regulatory Requirements” organized by the Dhaka Stock Exchange in the capital last week, they said that one of the conditions for an efficient capital market was timely disclosure and transparency in the financial reporting.
Md Abdul Halim, commissioner of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, said that some companies exaggerated when submitting the IPO documents and others did not disclose their financial statements properly.
Financial reporting is the process of documenting and communicating financial activities and performance over specific time periods, typically on a quarterly or yearly basis.
Saying that many companies also face problems due to a lack of knowledge regarding various regulations, he urged them to seek the commission’s help to solve such problems.
DSE director Md Afzal Hossain said that financial reports should be presented in such a way that a common man could understand it as a large part of it involved the interests of shareholders.
But it should also disclose all details and analyses needed for the stock exchanges, he added.
Emphasizing such seminars on a larger scale in future, Afzal Hossain said that transparency in financial reporting was essential to protect the interests of investors and so financial reports needed to be published with accurate and detailed information.
"For the development of the capital market, we need to ensure the transparency of financial reporting. For this, both managing authorities of companies and chartered accountants, who prepare audit reports, have to fulfill their responsibilities," he said.
DSE managing director ATM Tariquzzaman said that accurate financial report could correctly reflect the state of the company because financial reporting involved many things related to compliance, governance, accuracy of financial position, oversight of regulatory bodies and investor interest.
Kamrul Anam Khan, chief accountant and executive director of the BSEC, said that failure to disclose financial reports on time harmed investors and created negative perception about the company in the capital market.
Md Masud Khan, assistant general manager and head of corporate governance and financial reporting compliance department, DSE, other officials of the DSE, BSEC and experts were also present in the seminar.
