Non-financial reporting in Spain. The effects of the adoption of the 2014 EU Directive

Abstract

The Directive 2014/95/EU imposes new requirements regarding the disclosure of non-financial information (NFI). The aim of this paper is to analyse the NFI disclosed by Spanish listed companies. This is a pioneering study in Spain, since it was conducted during the first year in which NFI disclosure was mandatory, according to the requirements of the Spanish adaptation of Directive. We determine whether decisions on NFI reporting adopted in this respect (i.e. to do so within the management report or as a separate sustainability report) depend on the company’s characteristics. In addition, we consider whether the content of such reports differs significantly. Findings show that some Spanish companies do not disclose mandatory NFI. Larger and more profitable companies, which belong to specific sectors and have a sustainability committee, are more likely to disclose this information in a sustainability report. The contents of management and sustainability reports present significant differences.

Keywords

• Non-financial information
• Directive 2014/95/EU
• Management report
• Sustainability report
• Spain