“Disclosure Games” is a term we use to highlight those public companies engaging in disclosure practices we find as misleading, confusing, evasive, or otherwise lacking the transparency needed for investors to make well-informed investment decisions regarding a potentially material exposure. 

In this note, we argue Abbott is playing Disclosure Games by the selective omission of key words investors typically screen for when looking to see if a company has regulatory or legal exposure. By doing so, Abbott now risks investors viewing it as a company willfully trying to deceive them.  In our opinion, that perception is well placed.