Good morning. CFOs of public companies may soon need to rethink the cadence of financial reporting—and everything that comes with it.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly preparing a proposal that could allow U.S. public companies to report financial results semiannually instead of quarterly, with the agency expected to release the measure as soon as April, according to The Wall Street Journal. It would make quarterly filings optional rather than mandatory, though it has not yet been finalized or adopted.
I had a conversation with J. Eric Johnson, partner and co-chair of the Public Company Advisory Practice at Winston & Strawn, who told me that the topic is already generating debate among practitioners. “That’s actually one of the first things that comes up,” Johnson said, noting that his firm discussed the issue at a recent internal corporate luncheon.
Questions he’s fielding: What would an investor relations strategy look like? How do you maintain transparency? How do you stay in front of your investor base, telling your story, getting out in front of them, and continuing enthusiasm around your stock?
For over 50 years, quarterly earnings have given companies a structured moment to shape their narrative. Under semiannual reporting, that cadence disappears, Johnson said.
“Yes, some companies may save money,” he said. “They may save time. But you’re going to have to rethink a lot of things.” He continued, “The market participants, the investors, are going to demand information in some form or fashion.”
Johnson also raised concerns around Regulation FD, which prohibits selective disclosure. Under the current cycle, executives can speak more freely because financial results are fresh or imminent.
He added that semiannual reporting could strain board oversight. Audit committees are used to quarterly reviews with management and auditors. Removing that rhythm creates a governance gap, likely requiring informal quarterly check-ins—eroding cost savings. “Yeah, we didn’t print a 10-Q, but we’re still doing a lot of heavy lifting in the background,” Johnson said.
There could also be capital markets challenges, he said. Underwriters typically require very recent financial data, and a six-month cycle could leave information stale.
Shivaram Rajgopal, an accounting professor at Columbia Business School, doesn’t view the shift as beneficial. “It will save trivial compliance costs in the short run but lead to more demands on the IR groups for updates,” he said. “I suspect most well-followed companies will file quarterly statements voluntarily anyway.”
Smaller firms, however, may not. “In the case of smaller firms, insider trading might go up, and volatility in the stock will likely also go up,” Rajgopal said. “Surprises or sharp swings in stock prices will become more common.”
Johnson also warned of increased volatility. Less frequent reporting means negative trends could compound before disclosure.
“We had a 5% decline in revenue over three months, but now, when we talk about it at six months, it’s actually 10%,” Johnson said.
Rajgopal shared this anecdote: “I have heard a prominent board member say the following: ‘The market pays you 20-25 years of your earnings today (via the price-earnings ratio).’”
“And we hesitate to supply the market with quarterly data?” he continued, “That’s odd. Imagine hiring an employee and paying them 25 years of their annual compensation. How closely are you likely to monitor that employee? Just once in six months?”
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves:
—Joel Grade, EVP and CFO of Baxter International Inc. (No. 288), a global medtech, is leaving the company to prioritize family matters but will continue in an advisory capacity until April 30. Anita Zielinski was named interim CFO, effective immediately, while the company conducts its search to fill the role. Zielinski joined Baxter in 2025 as SVP and chief accounting officer and controller, and will continue with these responsibilities in addition to serving as interim CFO. She joined Baxter from Sysco Corporation, where she most recently served as SVP and CFO, U.S. Foodservice Operations
—Chris Stansbury, EVP and CFO of Lumen Technologies, Inc. (No. 325), was appointed to the additional role of president. In his expanded capacity, Stansbury will work to drive operational excellence, capital allocation discipline, and enterprise growth across the company. He has more than 30 years of leadership experience. Prior to joining Lumen in 2022, Stansbury served as CFO at Arrow Electronics. Before Arrow, he was CFO of the Networking Group at Hewlett‑Packard.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Jim Peters was named EVP and CFO of Brown‑Forman Corporation (NYSE: BFA, BFB), effective March 31. Peters joins Brown‑Forman following a career at Whirlpool Corporation, where he most recently led enterprise transformation initiatives as executive vice president. He succeeds Leanne Cunningham, who will retire effective May 1. Prior to his most recent role, Peters served as Whirlpool’s EVP and chief financial and administrative officer.
Rohini Jain, CFO of BILL Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: BILL), was appointed to additionally serve as the company’s principal accounting officer, according to an SEC filing. Jain joined BILL as CFO in June 2025. She has over 20 years of experience. Prior to BILL, Jain worked at PayPal, where she most recently served as CFO and SVP of PayPal’s Large Enterprise and Merchant platforms. She also held roles at eBay, Walmart, and General Electric.
Nitesh Sharan was appointed CFO of Quantinuum, a quantum computing company, effective April 6. Sharan brings more than 25 years of global finance experience. He joins the company after nearly five years as CFO of SoundHound AI, Inc., where he led the company through its public listing in 2022. Prior to joining SoundHound AI, Sharan spent more than five years at Nike, where he held several leadership roles, including VP of investor relations and treasurer, VP of corporate finance and treasurer, and CFO of global operations and technology.
Lisa White was appointed SVP and CFO of OnPoint Community Credit Union, serving more than 633,000 members with $9.5 billion in assets. White has more than 20 years of finance and accounting leadership experience. White previously worked at Columbia Bank (formerly Umpqua Bank) for nearly 15 years in senior finance and accounting leadership roles. She most recently served as its executive vice president, principal accounting officer and corporate controller. She previously served as an audit manager at Deloitte.
Big Deal
Nasdaq Verafin’s 2026 Global Financial Crime Report finds that fraud scams and bank fraud schemes totaled $579.4 billion in losses globally in 2025, representing 9.2% annualized growth since 2023. That includes $62 billion in losses from fraud scams, with annualized growth of 19.3%, and $517.4 billion in losses from bank fraud, with annualized growth of 8.2%.
Looking ahead to the next five years, financial institutions are concerned about keeping pace with the evolving financial crime threat. Sixty-seven percent of banking professionals surveyed cite keeping ahead of emerging financial crime risks as their greatest future challenge.
AI-driven fraud has also emerged as a significant challenge to global bank fraud defenses: 90% of survey respondents report an increase in AI-driven attacks over the past two years at their institution. “As AI-enabled fraud continues to accelerate, AI is increasingly viewed not as an emerging capability, but as a core requirement for effective financial crime management,” the report states.
The report combines expert research, data, and a survey of more than 500 financial crime professionals to see how the landscape has evolved from 2023 to 2025.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Supermicro’s co-founder was just arrested for allegedly smuggling $2.5 billion in GPUs to China”—Amanda Gerut
“Fortune 500 firm updates AI price tag to $4.5 trillion, estimating 93% of jobs vulnerable to disruption”—Jake Angelo
“Lamborghini is selling a record number of cars—but tariffs are eating its profits”—Sasha Rogelberg
“How an MBA internship led Mitsubishi to e-commerce platform Yami—and into the U.S. snacks market”—Nicholas Gordon
Overheard
“Upskilling is not optional: the skills needed to thrive alongside AI, and the tasks that make up our workdays, will change enormously.”
—Paul Posey, CEO of ComPsych, a global provider of employee mental health, writes in a Fortune opinion piece titled, “I run the world’s largest employee mental health company. Leaders are treating AI adoption as a tech problem. It’s not.”
