U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study the feasibility of ending quarterly reporting for U.S. businesses to ease regulations and spur greater economic growth.
Taking to Twitter, President Trump said "In speaking with some of the world’s top business leaders, I asked what it is that would make business (jobs) even better in the U.S. 'Stop quarterly reporting & go to a six-month system,' said one. That would allow greater flexibility & save money. I have asked the SEC to study!"
Several media outlets sought comment from the SEC on the proposed study, but nobody from the SEC has yet to comment. It isn’t immediately clear what impact it would have on stock markets or the broader economy if public companies moved to reporting their earnings every six months rather than on a quarterly basis.
Publicly traded companies in the United States, as well as Canada, currently file their earnings reports every three months, or four times per year. The potential shift would allow them to reduce these filings to two a year.
President Trump recently hosted several top company leaders while on vacation at his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, including the heads of Apple Inc., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Boeing Co., FedEx Corp, and Honeywell International Inc.
