Risk regulations and financial disclosure An investigation based on corporate communication in French traded companies

Purpose - Risk orientated disclosure is a focal issue of corporate communication. Many provisions have been implemented in the USA and in Europe to promote transparency about risks faced by companies, especially by quoted ones. The increase of mandatory risk reporting applying to companies leads to the question of whether or how companies are compliant with these regulations. The answer itself implies further questions: what is required to be disclosed? And what is risk? The purpose of this paper is to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses a qualitative methodology based on Huberman and Miles in order to explore the collected data (annual reports of companies, laws, accounting standards, professional sources). Findings - The paper established an inventory of rules currently existing in order to identify the risk disclosure context faced by French companies and found that there is no consensus between the different pieces of legislation. It is demonstrated that the terminology referred to by companies tends to differ from one to another. Research limitations/implications - The study focused on risk disclosure within annual reports of listed companies and on risk reporting within mandatory provisions. Practical implications - A consensus on the definition of risk needs to be reached in order to assess company management, as well as their compliance with provisions. Originality/value - An attempt is made to set up a framework which could eliminate deficiencies in the lack of consensus in laws and company practice.