In an interesting paper titled “The Power of Words in Capital Markets:  SEC Comment Letters on Foreign Issuers and the Impact of Domestic Enforcement,” authors Daniel Giamouridis, Kleopatra Koulikidou and Stergios Leventis review the tone of comment letters issued to foreign private issuers and its effect on stock market activity.  The study is based on 1,324 comment letters issued and released on EDGAR from 2005 through 2014.  The comment letters include principally negative information about the registrants’ financial reporting quality.  The study assesses stock returns based on the EDGAR comment letter releases.  The findings show that there is a significantly higher negative market reaction related to foreign private issuers that prepare their financial statements in accordance with US GAAP, versus IFRS.

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