The recent integration of new members into the European Union and the movement towards accounting harmonization (adoption of IAS/IFRS in Europe) raises the following important questions: (1) Does financial reporting transparency differ between Eastern European firms, specifically Baltic firms, and their Western European counterparts? (2) Is upgrading accounting regulations and capital market operation sufficient to narrow the gap between the financial reporting transparencies of the two groups?  Our paper addresses these two significant questions, which are of relevance to both investors and regulators. Prior studies have shown cross-country differences in disclosures, influenced by institutional factors.  Our sample provides a unique setting in which the firms are subject to very similar capital market regulations, as the Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius Stock Exchanges are all run by the same company: OMX. The possible bias related to differences in the operation of capital markets is thus largely eliminated. We include all non-financial firms listed in three Eastern European (Baltic) markets and compare them to a size and industry matched sample of Finnish, Swedish, and Danish (Nordic) firms. Our results show that Eastern European companies disclose significantly less information than their Scandinavian counterparts, after controlling for firm-specific characteristics. These results hold using three different measures of transparency. The evidence is consistent with the notion that disclosure levels and accounting quality will continue to vary considerably across countries despite the ongoing process of accounting harmonization and capital market consolidation.