Regulation Fair Disclosure


Regulation Fair Disclosure

An SEC regulation requiring that all publicly-traded companies in the United States disclose relevant, or "material," information to all shareholders at the same time. Adopted in 2000, this was a response to a common practice in the 1990s in which large companies disclosed financial information on conference calls to certain analysts and neither the public at large nor even all shareholders were invited. The regulation mandates that intentional disclosures be made publicly and unintentional disclosures be made public within 24 hours. Controversial when introduced, it has increased access to information on larger firms, but some analysts suggest that it has decreased the information available, and therefore increased stock volatility for smaller firms.