The Significance of the Profit and Loss Account in Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Reassessment

This article presents a reassessment of the development of regulated financial disclosure in nineteenth-century British companies legislation. Most accounting historians have emphasized the importance of the balance sheet under the disclosure requirements of various Acts. The relative importance of the profit and loss account has been largely neglected by historians. This paper contends that the profit and loss account was a considerably more important document in the financial regulation of companies than previously contemplated. In fact, the profit and loss account was required in the disclosure regulations of numerous Acts, including the Joint Stock Banks Act (1844), the Regulation of Railways Act (1868), the Life Assurance Companies Act (1870) and the Building and Friendly Societies Act (1874).     

The Development of Legal Disclosure Requirements: the Case of Charitable Donations

The requirement that companies disclose the extent of their charitable contributions is an unusual feature of British company law. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of the requirement from the opinion of the Jenkins Committee on company law reform, that no separate requirement be introduced, through to its appearance in the Companies Act 1967. Drawing on records of Parliamentary debates for the details of the views expressed and the arguments advanced, the paper demonstrates how a Labour Government's desire to have political donations revealed led to the introduction of mandatory disclosure of charitable contributions. The paper is thus a case study of the making of the law relating to financial disclosure.     

公平和效率为导向的内部控制信息披露方式的转变

自《萨班斯--奥克斯利法案》颁布以来,美国上市公司内部控制信息披露方式由自愿性披露转变为强制性披露.而在2008年我国五部委联合发布的《企业内部控制基本规范》标志着我国上市公司内部控制信息也开始向强制性披露方式转变.论文试图用经济学的公平与效率理论分析内部控制信息由自愿性披露方式转变为强制性披露方式背后的原因,经过分析...     

Corporate Dislosure in a Substantially Unregulated Environment

Corporate disclosure in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in New South Wales was substantially unregulated. Except for banks, insurance companies, companies receiving money on deposit and, after 1896, no liability mining companies, statutes regulating companies either contained no compulsory disclosure rules or were silent about the details of information to be disclosed. In almost all cases the statutes regulating companies were based on English counterparts or had English antecedents, while the capital maintenance rule limiting profits available for dividends came from English case law. However, some English statutes, notably the life insurance legislation of 1870 and the Companies Acts of 1879, 1900 and 1907, were not adopted in New South Wales.     

The impact of corporate attribites on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting by listed companies in Zimbabwe

This article reports the results of an empirical investigation of the degree of influence of eight corporate attributes on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting of 49 listed companies in Zimbabwe. Using a disclosure index which consisted of 214 mandated information items, the extent of mandatory disclosure be each sample company was quantified, and was used with other data specific to each sample company to test the relational hypotheses. Although several alternative specifications of multivariate regression models were developed and estimated, only the results of a robust regression analysis which indicated that company size, ownership structure, company age, multinational corporation affiliation, and profitability have statiscally significant positive effect on mandatory disclosure and reporting practices of the sample companies were reported. The quality of external audit, industry-type and liquidity were statistically insignificant.     

机构投资者与上市公司年报披露及时性的实证研究

我们运用Logit模型检验机构投资者持股量与上市公司年报披露时间差异之间的关系时发现,机构投资者促进了上市公司年报的及时披露。但是,机构投资者在促进上市公司年报及时披露的程度与整个证券市场环境相关。在证券市场整体牛市时,机构投资者似乎对上市公司年报披露是否提前并不产生影响,但是当股票市场整体处于熊市时,机构投资者对会计信息的需求愿望比较强烈,机构投资者持股量与上市公司提前披露年报显著正相关。这说明了机构投资者只是会计信息的外部使用者之一,机构投资者促进了上市公司年报及时披露,机构投资者没有降低信息披露的质量。     

Accounting manipulations and political costs: Tooth & Co Ltd, 1910–1965

Positive accounting theory posits that political costs influence accounting choices by large firms. Most studies rely on cross‐sectional analyses of large samples using coarse data. We employ rich archival data to analyse the profit measurement and disclosure practices of Tooth & Co, a large Australian brewing company, from 1910 to 1965. This period provides considerable variation in scope and incentives to manipulate reported profit. Reporting discretion changed significantly from early voluntary disclosure through to the extensive scheduled disclosure requirements of the Companies Act 1961. Varying incentives include changes in excise duties levied on beer production, and dramatic company growth and market dominance resulting from takeovers of competitors and vertical integration. We examine the pattern of reported profit in relation to internal records and the pattern of accruals. We find that Tooth's profit‐smoothing practices and understatements were perceived by management as important in justifying dividend policy, while systematic understatements of reported profit were used to avoid potential political costs associated with high profitability and market dominance. The most significant relative increases in profit understatement are shown to occur where dividend policy and political cost motivations coincide.     

ACCOUNTING FOR INVESTMENTS IN UNINCORPORATED JOINT VENTURES

A consideration of the pertinent legal and commercial features of unincorporated joint ventures reveals some accounting and disclosure issues that are not adequately dealt with by existing accounting standards or disclosure rules. In addition, a review of current practice reveals major deficiencies in reporting the financial results of investments in joint ventures. Some deficiencies, especially the disclosure of contingent liabilities, may be in breach of the requirements of the Companies Act, 1961. Our conclusion on accounting methods is that the equity method is to be preferred to the more popular proportionate consolidation method.     

An Analysis of Lease Disclosures by Australian Companies

From 1964 to 1980 there was a twenty-fold increase in the extent to which the average Australian company resorted to lease finance. Lease disclosure by lessees was voluntary throughout this period, yet we observe that, by 1979, three out of four lessee companies had begun to disclose their lease commitments. Our study sought an answer to the question: what factors influenced Australian lessees, in their decision whether or not to disclose lease commitments in their annual reports? In a wider sense, we use this issue to probe further our power to explain accounting policy choice, particularly in situations, such as in Australia, where a small population restricts our ability to observe some aspects of the economic and political process. Based on a univariate and multivariate tests, we infer from our study that the relative frequency of voluntary disclosure by lessees was related to (a) industry, (b) firm size and (c) whether the lessee was a subsidiary company of a foreign parent; was only weakly related to (d) whether the lessee entered the Australian Institute of Management good reporting award; and was unrelated to (e) the identity of the lessee's audit firm (f) the existence of bonus scheme tied to reported profit and (g) the relative risk of the firm.     

Cybersecurity Disclosure by the Companies on the S&P/TSX 60 Index

Cybersecurity has become a topic of great interest since 2010. Accounting issues surrounding cybersecurity governance, management, and disclosure have gained attention from accounting standard setters, large accounting firms, and professional associations, but only a limited number of studies have looked at cybersecurity disclosure. In this study, we examine whether the content of cybersecurity disclosures of Canadian firms comprising the S&P/TSX 60 index is aligned with best practices—that is, financial regulators' guidelines in that matter. A content analysis was performed of documents issued between January 2017 and mid‐2018, consisting of recent annual information forms (AIFs), annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis (MD&As), proxy circulars, material change reports, and news releases. To assess the nature and extent of cybersecurity disclosure, we developed a scoring grid featuring 40 items based on financial regulators' guidelines. Results show that cybersecurity disclosure levels are low. Companies vary widely in the amount of detail they provide, and the information is often not company‐specific. The variations among industrial sectors involve the categories related to cybersecurity risk, cybersecurity risk mitigation, and other items. Most of the companies provided cybersecurity disclosures in the annual MD&A, and several reiterated some disclosure items in the AIF and proxy circular. The results of this study highlight some areas where cybersecurity disclosures have evolved and others where they could be improved. They suggest that some firms strive to avoid boilerplate language and be more company‐specific. The findings also suggest that financial regulators could issue more stringent requirements.     

上市公司治理对会计信息披露质量的影响因素分析

本文采用熵权法研究了我国上市公司治理对会计信息披露质量的影响因素,研究结果表明第一大股东的性质、机构投资者持股比例、管理层的持股比例、公司总资产的大小和第一大股东的持股比例对会计信息披露质量有较大影响;而独立董事比例、监事会人数、流通股比例以及资产负债率、净资产收益率和主营业务收入率等指标对会计信息披露质量影响很小。根据研究结果,提出了完善公司治理结构和提高会计信息披露质量的改进措施。     

The effect of legislation on corporate disclosure practices

This article investigates the effect of the Financial Reporting Act of 1993 (FRA) on mandatory disclosure practices of companies listed on the New Zealand Exchange Limited. The FRA gave statutory backing to financial reporting standards in New Zealand and made non-compliance illegal. Using both univariate and multivariate analyses, we examine the association between (a) the levels of compliance with mandatory disclosure by the companies in our sample, and (b) disclosure regulatory regimes that prevailed in New Zealand before and after the implementation of the FRA. We find that mean corporate disclosure compliance levels in the periods after the enactment of the FRA are significantly higher than those in the periods before the enactment of the legislation. After controlling for the effects of other mandatory disclosure-related variables documented in prior studies, we also find that the improvement in corporate disclosure compliance behaviour is the result of the implementation of the FRA. Alternative specifications of the primary regression model indicate that those findings are robust.     

Chief executive officer remuneration disclosure quality: corporate responses to an evolving disclosure environment

We examine chief executive officer remuneration disclosure in Australia from 1998 to 2004. Disclosure was first required by the Company Law Review Act 1998 (CLRA98). Despite CLRA98's clear intentions, firms generally failed to comply until the requirements were formalized by Director and Executive Disclosures by Disclosing Entities (AASB1046), issued in 2004. For a sample of 124 firms, we find significant improvements in disclosure concurrent both with CLRA98 and AASB1046. We also find firm size, corporate governance, auditor quality, cross‐listing status and public scrutiny to be significant explanations of disclosure. Our results indicate that high quality disclosures will only come about through detailed, black letter requirements and that principle‐based legislation involving interpretative discretion is unlikely to produce the desired level of disclosure.     

上市公司内部控制缺陷披露现状探查——基于沪市A股经验数据

随着《企业内部控制基本规范》和《企业内部控制配套指引》的逐步实施,我国上市公司内部控制缺陷信息的披露情况有了逐步提升.本文以2010-2012年间沪市A股上市公司披露的内部控制相关报告为研究对象,详细描述了这三年间沪市A股上市公司内部控制缺陷信息的披露情况.研究发现,披露内控缺陷的公司数量在逐年增加,信息披露方式趋于规范化,内部控制整体水平有所提高,存在缺陷的公司表现出了一定的行业特征.同时也发现内部控制缺陷信息披露仍然存在信息含量低等问题,针对这些问题,笔者提出了相关的政策性建议.内部控制缺陷情况的研究,一方面考察了我国上市公司对制度的执行情况,另一方面也为内控制度建设提供了经验证据.     

The Court's Power of Discretionary Relief in Actions Against Auditors

Since 1929, successive Companies Acts have empowered the courts to relieve a company auditor, wholly or partly, from liability for negligence having regard to all the circumstances of the case and if the auditor has acted ‘honestly and reasonably’. This power is now contained within section 727 of the Companies Act 1985. By reference to decided cases in the UK and in those Commonwealth countries where similar legislation exists this article reviews the manner in which the courts have interpreted this section and explores the reasons why they have rarely, if ever, chosen to use their powers under this section in favour of auditors.     

An analysis of the companies’ compliance with the EU disclosure requirements and corporate characteristics influencing it: A case study of Turkey

One of the factors shaping accounting disclosure of countries in Europe is the EU Fourth Directive (EUFD) which addresses individual company accounts. The EUFD has been claimed to have had an impact on accounting, including accounting disclosure, of not only the EU countries but also non-EU member European countries. Turkey is one of the non-EU member European countries claimed to be influenced by the EUFD and this study examined Turkish companies’ level of compliance with the disclosure requirements of the EUFD over the years (1986, 1987, 1991, 1992 and 1995), and assessed whether companies’ level of compliance had been influenced by their corporate characteristics, such as company size, listing status and industry type.Turkish companies’ level of compliance with the disclosure requirements of the EUFD was measured by an index (i.e. EUFD Disclosure Compliance Index—EUFDCDI). The index was developed by; constructing disclosure scoring sheet; obtaining annual reports of 61 sampled Turkish companies over the years; completing scoring sheet for each companies’ annual report; and creating disclosure index. The index (EUFDCDI) scores was, than, analysed for each year to assess the companies’ compliance with the EU disclosure requirements and both parametric and non-parametric test, were conducted to determine if there were significant changes in the extent of disclosure in compliance with the EUFD over the years. Furthermore, using the companies EUFDCDI score as dependent variable and corporate characteristics as independent variables, the Ordinary Least Square regression was run for each year to find out if the companies’ level of compliance with the EU disclosure requirements were influenced by their corporate characteristics.The results of this study revealed that Turkish companies’ compliance with the required disclosure by the EUFD varied within the range of 30–85%, but their compliance increased significantly from one year to another throughout the selected period. The results further revealed that listing status is one of the important corporate characteristics of the Turkish companies affecting their compliance with the EU disclosure requirements.     

Corporate mandatory disclosure practices in Bangladesh

This study reports the results of an empirical investigation of the extent of mandatory disclosure by 94 listed companies in Bangladesh. It also reports the results of the association between company-specific characteristics and mandatory disclosure of the sample companies. The results indicate that companies in general have not responded adequately to the mandatory disclosure requirements of the regulatory bodies. It has been found that companies, on average, disclose 44% of the items of information, which leads to the conclusion that prevailing regulations are ineffective monitors of disclosure compliance by companies. Company age appears to be an insignificant factor for mandatory disclosure. And there is little support for industry size as a predictor of mandatory disclosure except where size is measured by sales. Then it is marginally significant. Profitability was also found to have no effect on disclosure. And status, i.e., whether a company is modern or traditional also has no effect on mandatory disclosure.     

R&D支出信息披露的价值相关性研究

研究开发(R&D)支出的信息披露有助于投资者了解企业R&D的投入水平和技术实力,并据此预测企业未来的盈利能力和发展潜力,有利于投资者判断公司的价值。对我国新无形资产准则实施以来的研发支出信息披露的现状进行分析的基础上,本文对研发支出及其信息披露的价值相关性进行了检验,研究发现,股票价格对资本化研发支出和费用化研发支出存在选择性吸收,研发支出信息披露质量对股票价格有显著的影响,提高研发信息披露质量有利于提高会计信息的价值相关性。     

内部控制缺陷信息披露的影响因素分析

本文以上海证券交易所2003-2006年年报中披露内部控制缺陷信息的33家公司为样本,同时选取54家公司为控制样本考察内部控制缺陷信息披露的影响因素,研究发现,报告和披露内部控制缺陷的影响因素是报告年度的分部数目、公司的规模。最后基于上述发现提出了政策建议。     

上市公司非经常性损益信息披露的改进研究

为了保证上市公司的财务信息更客观地反映其财务状况和盈利能力,中国证监会于2008年11月发布公告对2007年的规定进行了修订。通过对100家上市公司财务报表中非经常性损益披露的统计分析,发现新的披露制度仍存在概念界定不完整、披露不统一、与退市政策关联度弱等不足之处,有待于进一步改进。