As an initial step toward making the financial disclosures of reporting companies more transparent, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new disclosure requirements that would require companies to discuss their application of critical accounting policies in the "Management’s Discussion and Analysis" (MD&A) sections of registration statements and periodic reports. The proposals, which are significantly more far reaching than other recent disclosure proposals, are intended to help investors obtain higher-quality, more insightful financial information by better understanding important accounting estimates that reflect significant subjectivity and uncertainty of management.