Overview of limited assurance of integrated reporting in the brazilian stock market
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4025/enfoque.v45i1.71042Keywords:
Integrated Reporting; Limited Assurance; Assurance; IIRC; CVM 14.Abstract
Purpose: Starting in 2021, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) made it mandatory for listed companies on the Stock Exchange (B3) to have their Integrated Reporting (IR) assured by an independent auditor registered with that institution. Thus, the objective of this study is to characterize the overview of limited assurance of IR in the Brazilian stock market.
Methodology: The research is descriptive in nature with a qualitative-quantitative documentary approach, employing content analysis techniques and Student's t-test. The research data were provided by the Brazilian Integrated Reporting Monitoring Commission, for the year 2021.
Originality/Relevance: IR differs from other sustainability reports due to its hybrid nature, which allows for the disclosure and connectivity of various types of information. In the context of the Brazilian stock market, mandatory assurance of the IR is recent, and no research has been identified on the topic since the implementation of the requirement by CVM.
Results: The main standard for disclosing social and environmental information is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Out of 62 companies that published the IR in 2021, 12 (19.35%) did not present an Assurance Report. Of the 50 assured companies, 35 (70.00%) hired auditing firms, while 15 (30.00%) hired certification organizations. It was found that the average number of assured disclosure standards in Environmentally Sensitive Sectors (SAS) is higher and statistically significant compared to the other companies in the sample. In the conclusions of the independent auditors, in 49 (98.00%) of the assurances performed, the mention "in accordance" was made, and only one exception was noted.
Contributions: The study contributes to understanding the scenario of IR assurance in Brazil after its mandatory requirement. The results enhance the literature by demonstrating that SAS, on average, assure more than one standard of social and environmental information disclosure. Furthermore, they alert stakeholders to the possibility of image management and notify standard-setting and regulatory bodies about the partial compliance with standards CTO 07 and CVM 14, respectively.
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