Investors Benefit From More Financial Data, Not Less: Editorial

At White House urging, Securities and Exchange Commission regulators have proposed ending a 56-year-old requirement endured by US-listed companies: the filing of quarterly reports. The change isn’t just unnecessary — it also risks undermining the world’s largest and most dynamic equity market.

With stocks near all-time highs, the need for change is hardly obvious. Proponents argue that requiring fewer reports will reduce the time and cost of compliance. Some blame an increase in disclosure demands over the last three decades for a sharp decline in the number of public companies.

While there may be some truth to that argument, it ...