Regulators and investors expect transparency in disclosures when it comes to the company’s reporting of its unusual or significant transactions or events. Currently, publicly traded companies are required to comply with the Form 8-K disclosure requirements; and under section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, their CEO and CFO are required to certify the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure controls and procedures on a quarterly basis. To ensure compliance with the Form 8-K disclosure requirements and reduce the risk of fraudulent financial reporting, companies have developed and implemented formal disclosure control procedures and tested them periodically for their operating effectiveness.

This course is designed to highlight the best practices on disclosure controls and discuss how companies are leveraging them to reduce their financial reporting risks. In this course, we discuss the relevant disclosure requirements and identify the events that must be reported in Form 8-K.  We also discuss lessons learned from companies that failed to meet the disclosure requirements, and specific disclosure controls that others have developed to ensure the timely and accurate disclosure of the company’s significant or unusual events and transactions.