The changing face of the Annual Report

With so many demands on a company’s annual report, it is little wonder that it is struggling to live up to the expectations of both investors and firms themselves. In this article, Tony Hoskins of consultancy The Virtuous Circle finds out what investors and firms alike really think about the state of the annual report and the opportunities on the horizon to satisfy the needs of both sides.

From the early days of the South Sea Company, and the passing of the Bubble Act of 1720 corporate reporting has been in the spotlight of legislators. Following the next piece of legislation, the Joint Stock Companies Act of 1844, new developments in company legislation were introduced every 20-40 years, as the nature of companies changed – and as their behaviour became more visible to the public.