210.4-01—Form, order, and terminology.
(a)
Financial statements should be filed in such form and order, and should use such generally accepted terminology, as will best indicate their significance and character in the light of the provisions applicable thereto. The information required with respect to any statement shall be furnished as a minimum requirement to which shall be added such further material information as is necessary to make the required statements, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading.
(1)
Financial statements filed with the Commission which are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles will be presumed to be misleading or inaccurate, despite footnote or other disclosures, unless the Commission has otherwise provided. This article and other articles of Regulation S-X provide clarification of certain disclosures which must be included in any event, in financial statements filed with the Commission.
(2)
In all filings of foreign private issuers (see § 230.405 of this chapter ), except as stated otherwise in the applicable form, the financial statements may be prepared according to a comprehensive set of accounting principles, other than those generally accepted in the United States or International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, if a reconciliation to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the provisions of Regulation S-X of the type specified in Item 18 of Form 20-F ( § 249.220f of this chapter) is also filed as part of the financial statements. Alternatively, the financial statements may be prepared according to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
(3)
(i)
Notwithstanding the effective dates set forth in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment (“Statement No. 123R”), financial statements shall be prepared in accordance with Statement No. 123R beginning with:
(A)
The first interim or annual reporting period of the registrant's first fiscal year beginning on or after June 15, 2005, provided the registrant does not file as a smaller reporting company; and
(B)
The first interim or annual reporting period of the registrant's first fiscal year beginning on or after December 15, 2005, provided the registrant files as a smaller reporting company.
(ii)
For periods prior to the effective dates set forth in this paragraph, both Statement No. 123R and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation (October 1995), shall be considered to be generally accepted accounting principles.
(b)
All money amounts required to be shown in financial statements may be expressed in whole dollars or multiples thereof, as appropriate: Provided, That, when stated in other than whole dollars, an indication to that effect is inserted immediately beneath the caption of the statement or schedule, at the top of the money columns, or at an appropriate point in narrative material.
(c)
Negative amounts (red figures) shall be shown in a manner which clearly distinguishes the negative attribute. When determining methods of display, consideration should be given to the limitations of reproduction and microfilming processes.