Disclosure is the act of releasing all relevant information on a company that may influence an investment decision. To be listed on major U.S. stock exchanges, companies must follow all the Securities and Exchange Commission's disclosure requirements and regulations. To make investing as fair as possible for everyone, companies must disclose both good and bad information.

The '33 Act is based upon a philosophy of disclosure, meaning that the goal of the law is to require issuers to fully disclose all material information that a reasonable shareholder would require in order to make up his or her mind about the potential investment.