Exploring Financial Risks from Corporate Disclosure: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature on corporate disclosure by exploring the quality of information on financial risks contained in the annual reports of a sample of non-financial companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange. The analysis is based on a manual content analysis approach, used to measure the level of financial risk information presented in the annual reports of 50 companies and build a Grid Risk Report. The findings of this paper show the degree of financial risk disclosure, as well as what companies actually disclose in terms of financial risk indices in their Management Reports (in the section covering information on risks and uncertainties), in their Notes to the Financial Statements (in the section on risk management) and, possibly, in their Notes on the Financial Instruments, they hold for to cover risk, for the period between 2008 and 2013. The paper’s findings have practical implications for both stakeholders and managers, giving investors facts about the sort of Italian companies that disclose financial risk information as part of the risk information presented in their annual reports and managers information about the degree of financial risk disclosure that will satisfy their stakeholder disclosure demands.