FASB details its investor outreach efforts

FASB’s annual report on its efforts to gather and use investor feedback in its standard-setting process highlights how investors played a key role in actions taken by the board.

The 2023 Investor Outreach Reportnoted that FASB’s recently effective disclosures on the use of supplier finance programs as well as “the most significant improvement to segment reporting in the last 25 years” were influenced by investor input.

“The FASB entered our 50th anniversary year focused on priority projects identified by investors and other stakeholders during our recent agenda consultation process,” FASB chair Rich Jones and technical director Hillary Salo wrote in the report’s opening letter. “We have advanced work on these projects, with many of the top investor priorities reaching important due process milestones.”

According to the report, FASB engaged in more than 435 investor interactions in the year that ended June 30, with buy-side and sell-side representatives accounting for nearly two-thirds of those interactions. Two-thirds of the interactions were via interviews and other outreach, while 29% were related to FASB’s advisory groups, led by the recently expanded FASB Investor Advisory Committee.

The report encourages investors who want their voice heard to reach out to FASB.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.