An exploratory study of intangibles risk disclosure in annual reports of banking companies from the UK, US, Germany and Italy – Some descriptive insights

By | 2017-12-29T17:44:43+01:00 December 27th, 2017|

Durst Susanne/ Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 1-2013

Intangibles are viewed as the key drivers in most industries, and current research shows that firms voluntarily disclose information about their investments in intangibles and their potential benefits. Yet little is known of the risks relating to such resources and the disclosures firms make about such risks. In order to obtain a more balanced and complete picture of firms’ activities, information about the risky side of their intangibles is also needed. This exploratory study provides some descriptive insights into intangibles-related risk disclosure in a sample of 16 large banks from the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Germany and Italy. Annual report data is analyzed using the three Intellectual Capital dimensions. Study findings illustrate the variety of intangibles-related risk disclosure as demonstrated by the banks involved.

Keywords: Intangibles, risks related to intangibles, risk reporting, disclosure, banking sector, content analysis

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Risk profile disclosure requirements for Italian insurance companies: Differences in the financial statement preparation

By | 2017-12-29T17:45:12+01:00 December 27th, 2017|

Buzzichelli Francesca, Di Pietra Roberto/ Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 1-2013

The content of the annual report of insurance undertakings is regulated by art. 2428 of Italian Civil Code, as well as by the Insurance Code and specific Italian Insurance Supervisor’s regulations. The paper compare the existing legislations, providing an overview of the different requirements, with particular attention to the risk profile disclosure. Moreover, the paper analyzes a significant sample of Italian insurance groups annual reports (from 2007 to 2009 financial year), using content analysis, in order to highlight the level of compliance with the existing rules and the level of preparedness for the upcoming Directive 2009/138/EC requirements (Solvency II Directive), which will come into force starting from 2012 financial year.

Keywords: Annual report, disclosure, financial statements, insurance risk profile, Solvency II, Solvency and Financial Condition Report (SFCR)

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Balancing on a Tightrope: Customer Relational Capital, Value Creation and Disclosure

By | 2017-12-27T14:25:50+01:00 December 27th, 2017|

Beattie Vivien, Roslender Robin, Smith Sarah Jane/Financial Reporting, Riviste / Fascicolo: 3-2013

This paper documents and compares the perceptions of key functional specialists regarding the contribution of 16 customer relational capital components to value creation and the motivations underlying its external disclosure. Findings of questionnaire surveys to samples of UK listed company marketing directors (who create customer relational capital) and finance directors (who report customer relational capital) are supplemented by follow-up interviews. Marketing directors and finance directors broadly agreed on the relevant importance of the components to value creation. While companies attempted to internally collate information on those components of most value creation importance, there was a lack of correlation between perceived value creation importance and the extent of external disclosure. This suggests that external disclosure is a poor proxy for value creation importance. In terms of disclosure incentives, marketing directors prioritise trust creation among a range of stakeholders whereas finance directors take a more share holder-centric perspective. External disclosure attracts new customers and informs other stakeholders, yet may adversely affect relationships with existing customers and/or breach specific non-disclosure agreements or generic industry restrictions and regulations. Harming competitive position is considered the major disclosure disincentive. In the view of marketing directors, managing the external disclosure of relational capital is akin to balancing on a tightrope.

Keywords: Customer relational capital, intellectual capital, value creation, marketing directors, disclosure.

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