The Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed the roadmap it is using to reform the rules on what companies are required to disclose to investors.

SEC Corporation Finance Director Keith Higgins, speaking to an American Bar Association Business Law Section meeting today in Los Angeles, unveiled a list of questions that will be used to shape the reforms before a full proposal is presented to the full commission:

•    Is there information in existing mandated issuer disclosures investors routinely ignore?
•    What information do they think is missing?
•    Is there information in SEC filings investors routinely get elsewhere?
•    How can information be easier to access and use with the prevalence of mobile devices?
•    Do technological advances lend themselves to a “one-size-fits-all” approach or should companies have flexibility to determine how they can convey information more effectively?
•    Should disclosure requirements be scaled for certain categories of issuers, such as smaller reporting companies or emerging growth companies and, if so, how?
•    Can disclosures benefit from a broader principles-based approach?

One of the aims of the review is to reduce disclosure costs on companies, consistent with investor protection, Higgins said.

Attorneys should urge their corporate clients to reduce repetition, focus and eliminate outdated information in disclosures even before new SEC rules come out, he said.