Chairman of the U.S. SEC promotes modernization of disclosure system, proposes streamlining risk lists.

The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, is considering ways to narrow the disclosure of risk factors, stating that reducing the scope of disclosure requires some "creative thinking." Atkins said on Tuesday in a speech prepared for an event at the Texas A&M University School of Law, "If companies are not forced to list virtually every imaginable contingency to avoid post-litigation, then they can focus on risks that are more specific to their business." Atkins has previously stated that the disclosure system for companies needs to be modernized. Last week, he told lawmakers that public companies spend $27 billion annually on submitting annual reports.