President Trump suggested moving away from quarterly earnings reports to semi-annual reporting, citing the need for corporate managers to focus on long-term strategies. US stock exchanges require quarterly reports, while most European exchanges only mandate semi-annual reports, illustrating international differences in financial reporting standards.

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 empowers the SEC to mandate quarterly financial reports from US-listed companies. Trump’s past experience with SEC reporting requirements, highlighted by a settlement in 2002 over financial discrepancies, adds context to his current push for less frequent reporting. The debate over GAAP vs. non-GAAP financial results has been ongoing in the investment community, with Warren Buffett criticizing the use of adjusted financials in quarterly reports. Buffet warns that even operating earnings figures can be manipulated by managers, emphasizing the need for transparency in financial reporting.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Trump calls for earnings reports every 6 months so execs can ‘focus on properly running their companies’