Last week marked the first anniversary of Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD), the new law passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to level the information playing field between individual and institutional investors. While corporations and individual investors laud the rule as a success, analysts on both the buyside and sellside believe that the quality and the quantity of information have suffered, according to recent surveys.

Regulation FD requires public companies to disclose 'material information' that may influence investment decisions to all types of investors and not just the chosen few analysts. A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that nearly 90% of the leaders from 201 publicly listed companies surveyed believed Regulation FD should be continued. However, 68% said the SEC should issue specific guidelines as to what information is material to companies and requires disclosure.