Standard & Poor’s has published a list of 68 companies that have publicly announced their intention to expense stock options in their income statements, beginning in 2003.

Of the 68 companies on the list, 38 are in the S&P 500 Index, seven are in the S&P MidCap 400 Index and four are in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Until last month, among companies in the S&P 500 Index, only Boeing and Winn Dixie treated employee stock options as a business expense.

Among the companies on Standard & Poor’s list are General Electric, American International Group, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Proctor & Gamble, JP Morgan-Chase, Goldman Sachs Group and more.

The rise in corporations opting to treat stock options as a formal part of the expense of running a business is seen as a response to investor calls for more transparency in corporate financial reporting.

“Investors want clear and more transparent financial reporting and expensing stock options is a highly visible step towards providing more thorough disclosure about a firm’s financial performance,” said David Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor’s Index Committee.