TABLE OF CONTENTS There would be little dispute that segmental reporting is most relevant for large companies with diverse operations and a large stakeholder base. This is reflected in UK and international GAAP, but the two are not identical.
| UK GAAP | IAS |
|---|---|
| Public companies | Entities with equity or debt that is publicly traded |
| Companies that have a listed subsidiary banking and insurance companies, or groups | Entities that are in the process of issuing equity or debt securities in public securities markets |
| Companies which exceed the medium-sized companies' criteria by a factor of more than 10 | Other entities that voluntarily disclose segmental information |
The UK requirement to look at a multiple of size criteria set by company law is the most unusual with no direct international equivalent. At 1 January 2007 the medium company size limits are
UK GAAP has one further idiosyncrasy in the form of the seriously prejudicial rule. This allows a company to omit segmental disclosures if it believes them to be seriously prejudicial to the interests of the business. Circumstances when this might be invoked would be for a company that identified that it was the only one within its sector required to give the disclosures and hence would be providing information to its competitors that would not be reciprocated. International accounting rules do not allow avoidance of segmental disclosures on the grounds of it being seriously prejudicial.
