Regulation FD made analysts less dependent on insider information and diminished analysts' motives to inflate their forecasts. The Global Research Analyst Settlement had an even bigger impact on analyst behavior: The mean forecast bias declined significantly, whereas the median forecast bias...

We examine the spillover effects of the Global Analyst Research Settlement (or Global Settlement) on analysts' earnings forecasts in 40 developed and emerging markets. Prior to the Global Settlement, analysts generally made overly optimistic forecasts, this bias tending to be higher in countries...