A heated debate is currently underway in the US over an unusual legislative initiative presented by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC seeks to change the reporting obligations of publicly traded companies on Wall Street and let report semi-annually only, without submitting quarterly reports as currently required by law. Surprisingly, at the heart of the debate that has stirred up strong emotions in the US is a study by a senior Israeli CPA, researcher, and director, Dr. Keren Bar-Hava, which was published several years ago and examined the implications of semi-annual reporting for companies.
As part of the US debate, both sides - the initiators of the legislation and its opponents - use the same Israeli study to support their opposing positions: the SEC cites the study to back up the legislation, as the study shows that semi-annual reporting leads to lower audit costs for companies, while opponents of the bill cite the study to prove that semi-annual reporting reduces transparency, public trust, and weakens corporate governance.
So who is the Israeli woman at the heart of the US debate? Dr. Keren Bar-Hava is head of the accounting department at the Hebrew University School of Business Administration and also serves as a member of the Israeli Council of Certified Public Accountants. Her research focuses on market efficiency, corporate governance, fair value versus cost, and more, and has been published in international journals.
Between 2010 and 2015, Dr. Bar-Hava served as a member of the Israel Securities Authority's plenary session and serves as an external director in a number of Israeli companies, currently at ZIM, among others. Dr. Bar-Hava's name made headlines after she resigned from her position as a director at Migdal Insurance Company in 2024, claiming that the company did not meet corporate governance standards.
Support from Donald Trump
The background to the research conducted by Bar-Hava, and which is at the heart of the debate in the US, was changes that occurred in Israel regarding the reporting obligations of companies. The periodic reporting obligation of public companies in Israel to the Israel Securities Authority and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) includes quarterly and semi-annual reports, with the scope of the report varying according to the company's classification - large company versus "exempt small corporation".
Following a regulatory change in 2017, large public companies (with a market cap exceeding NIS 300 million), bond issuers and companies included in the main TASE indices (such as the Tel Aviv 125 Index) are required to report quarterly; while companies defined as "small corporations" are allowed to make do with semi-annual reporting.
The study was published in Israel in 2020, and about two years ago, its findings were also published on a Columbia University blog, which dealt with the implications of the transition to semi-annual reporting based on the regulatory model in Israel. Now, it is at the heart of the discussion about the administration's intention to change the reporting model.
The SEC published the proposal in May 2026 under the agenda "Make IPOs Great Again". The proposal gives all public companies - regardless of their size or market cap - the freedom to choose to report in a semi-annual format. A company that chooses to do so will submit one semi-annual report and one annual report, instead of quarterly reports.
The initiative is supported by US President Donald Trump, who sought to promote it during his first term. The underlying goal of the proposal is to cut costs, save resources, and prevent "short-termism" by managers who focus only on the results of the coming quarter instead of on a long-term strategy. The explanatory memorandum to the bill mentions Bar-Hava’s research in support of these goals.
The reaction of the US market to the bill was crazy: the SEC was flooded with over 200,000 letters from the public - the highest volume of responses in the history of the authority, with most of the responses negative and opposing the bill. The analysis of the responses was published by Prof. Tzachi Zach of Ohio State University, who founded an innovative digital tracking project (Tracker) that analyzes the public and market position towards the bill. He found that 99% of respondents strongly opposed elimination of quarterly reporting and a move to semi-annual reporting. The opponents claim that the move will harm transparency, make pricing shares more difficult and increase the risk of insider trading. Opponents also rely on Bar-Hava's research.
Weak corporate governance
How is it possible that both opponents and supporters of the proposal rely on Bar-Hava's conclusions?
She tells "Globes", "I conducted the study in order to understand the implications of regulation that allows for less transparency, and as an accountant, I also wanted to see what would happen to the rates of the auditing profession. At that time, there were about 115 companies in Israel that were considered small reporting corporations, which were given the option of choosing semi-annual or quarterly reporting; 75 of them chose the relief and the rest continued with quarterly reporting. The study showed that the smaller and weaker companies chose the relief and that the market also reacted negatively to it."
The study showed that investors interpreted the cessation of quarterly reporting as a sign that the company had "something to hide." Investors priced the shares of these companies at a higher "risk premium," which was reflected in a decline in the share price.
She explains "I found that the negative excess return was minus 2.5% in response to the announcement of reporting twice a year instead of four." On the other hand, "Companies continued to report four times a year, even though there is no obligation, and the stock rose 2% above the market.
"I serve as a director in a respectable NIS 300 million company that does not have to report quarterly, and the CEO says I can report twice, but I will not do it, and it works in the company's favor."
The study also revealed that the companies that chose semi-annual reporting were characterized by weak corporate governance. Bar-Hava says, "Companies that chose to report twice a year have less experienced directors, less gender diversity, and other things that indicate less good corporate governance. So in fact the cost of the move is high - you saved 19% on CPA fees, but investors lose a lot from it." These findings were not mentioned in the US bill, but only the part of the study that showed that the switch to semi-annual reporting reduced the audit costs of those companies.
The "cherry picking" effect
Senior legal experts in the US from Harvard and Columbia criticized the SEC, claiming it engaged in "cherry-picking." "They took only the part of the study that suited them, which is great because accountants are paid less money, and they are now being attacked in the US," says Dr. Bar Hava.
The public comment period ends this month and the SEC is expected to analyze the hundreds of thousands of responses before deciding on the law. Since the bill was published, Bar-Hava has become a sought-after interviewee in the US and may even be invited to discuss the legislation after the objection phase ends at the end of the month.
By the way, did they do anything about your study at the Israeli Securities Authority? Did they talk to you? "The opposition in the US is wall to wall, but in Israel I don't know of any discussion about it. I wonder what is happening with this at the Israeli Securities Authority and what conclusions, if any, have been drawn in Israel regarding the reporting obligation here."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 21, 2026.
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