The issuance of equity via government-regulated capital markets is an important sourceof corporate finance. This is an opinion endorsed by many influential policymakers andauthors, many of whom add, however, that over-regulation can undermine competitiveadvantage and thus a nation's economic growth. The author of this provocative book setsout to show that the tendency towards 'more disclosure' that is usually the immediateregulatory response to financial market crises may be misconceived; what is required, she contends, is a thoughtful search for the true objectives of disclosure - the mostadvantageous (for all) cost-benefit analysis of any proposed regulatory path. In this bookshe provides just such a search and analysis, using as a springboard the 'disclosure andtransparency agenda' started with the EU Financial Services Action Plan of 1999.