Market regulator SEBI has asked stock exchanges to display annual reports of listed companies on their websites for financial year 2009-10 onwards, a move that could help investors take informed decisions.

"All Stock Exchanges are advised to make the annual reports for the financial year 2009-10 onwards available on their respective websites," Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.

It further said that exchanges are advised to take immediate steps in this regard.

Welcoming the move, SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said, "This is a right step by SEBI in the right direction. The annual report will enable investors to take informed decisions."

Currently, the companies file their financial results as well as their shareholding details with the stock exchanges on a quarterly and annual basis.

Earlier, listed companies used to make their annual reports available on the EDIFAR website.

However, Sebi said, with the discontinuation of the EDIFAR site, it has become necessary to ensure that annual reports of listed companies are available to investors on alternative sites.

EDIFAR is the Electronic Data Information Filing And Retrieval system. It was an automated system for filing, retrieval and dissemination of time sensitive corporate information, which was being filed physically by the listed companies with the stock exchanges in India.