Transparency has two meaning, depending on whether you are the consumer or producer of the information. To the consumer, transparency means complete, accurate and accessible information covering all aspects of the business. To the reporting company, transparency means "legally" delivering the company's message.

There is no better example of this than the whole area of CSR and ESG (“Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Environmental, Social and Governance”) reporting. The lack of a single international standard for such reporting leaves the door open to cherry-picking by companies of the standard that most fits their own reporting desires. This is not to say there are not a number of standards each seeking the mantle of “the standard”.

There is a need for a mandated core set of ESG reporting standards or content. The good news is that organizations such as EFFAS and DVFA are providing drafts of ESG KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), the GRI continues to tout their XBRL taxonomy, and the CDP has said that they expect to provide an XBRL taxonomy in 2011. Each piece of good news of course comes with limits.