Report 17 2058 Reportingnz: Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose
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June 2020 Report 17 2058 ReportingNZ: Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose Project 2058: Report 17 June 2020 ReportingNZ: Building a reporting framework fit for purpose This report forms part of Project 2058, the Institute’s flagship project Update as at 28 May 2021 Due to COVID-19, companies were given an exemption to publish their annual reports and financial statements late. This led to a time lag that, in effect, made the 2018 and 2019 annual report analyses incomparable. The Institute is pleased to advise that those figures and tables, now marked with a hashtag (#), have since been updated to include the additional annual reports of 10 NZSX-listed companies and 72 Deloitte Top 200 companies. This means the 2018 and 2019 data is now comparable. Title Report 17 – ReportingNZ: Building a reporting framework fit for purpose Published Copyright © McGuinness Institute Limited, 25 June 2020 ISBN 978-1-98-851848-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-98-851849-7 (PDF) This document is available at www.mcguinnessinstitute.org and may be reproduced or cited provided the source is acknowledged. Prepared by The McGuinness Institute, as part of Project 2058 Authors Wendy McGuinness, Isabella Smith and Eleanor Merton Research team Reuben Brady, Anna Broom, Wei Kai Chen, Madeleine Foreman, Sally Hett, Arne Larson, Josie McGuinness, Nicholas Shackleton, Karri Shaw and Freya Tearney Editorial team Ella Reilly and Angus Shaw Designers Becky Jenkins and Billie McGuinness Special thanks Lay Wee Ng (Consultant) For further information McGuinness Institute Phone (04) 499 8888 Level 2, 5 Cable Street PO Box 24222 Wellington 6142 New Zealand www.mcguinnessinstitute.org Disclaimer The McGuinness Institute has taken reasonable care in collecting and presenting the information provided in this publication. However, the Institute makes no representation or endorsement that this resource will be relevant or appropriate for its readers’ purposes and does not guarantee the accuracy of the information at any particular time for any particular purpose. The Institute is not liable for any adverse consequences, whether they be direct or indirect, arising from reliance on the content of this publication. Where this publication contains links to any website or other source, such links are provided solely for information purposes, and the Institute is not liable for the content of such website or other source. Publishing This publication has been produced by companies applying sustainable practices within their businesses. The body text is printed on Royal Offset Hi-Brite paper which is FSC certified. The McGuinness Institute is grateful for the work of Creative Commons, which inspired our approach to copyright. This work is available under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence. To view a copy of this licence visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/nz Contents Acknowledgments __________________________________________________________________________ 1 About ‘Project 2058’ ________________________________________________________________________ 1 Foreword _________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Road Map of Report 17: Building a reporting framework fit for purpose __________________________ 3 Executive summary ________________________________________________________________________ 4 1. Introduction __________________________________________________________________________ 7 1.1 The context _______________________________________________________________________ 7 1.2 Purpose of this report _______________________________________________________________ 8 1.3 Structure of this report ______________________________________________________________ 9 1.4 Seven characteristics of a successful framework __________________________________________ 10 1.5 Four key principles of Mäoritanga for a successful framework _____________________________ 11 1.6 Assumptions underlying this report ___________________________________________________ 11 2. Hindsight: Evolution of the reporting framework _________________________________________ 12 2.1 Era 1: Exploring international standard setting 1973–1987 _________________________________ 13 2.2 Era 2: Strengthening financial accounting practices 1987–1997 ______________________________ 13 2.3 Era 3: Exploring non-financial guidance 1997–ongoing ___________________________________ 13 3. Foresight: Trends and implications ______________________________________________________ 17 3.1 Trends ___________________________________________________________________________ 18 3.1.1 Increasing complexity and interconnectedness _____________________________________ 18 3.1.2 Increasing future focus ________________________________________________________ 20 3.1.3 Increasing level of distrust _____________________________________________________ 22 3.1.4 Growth of big data ___________________________________________________________ 23 3.1.5 Increasing cybersecurity and data privacy concerns _________________________________ 24 3.1.6 New business models _________________________________________________________ 24 3.1.7 Increasing activism ___________________________________________________________ 26 3.1.8 Increasing focus on the four capitals and wellbeing _________________________________ 27 3.2 Implications ______________________________________________________________________ 29 3.2.1 Increase in corporate responsibility ______________________________________________ 29 3.2.2 The need for risk to be embedded into the reporting framework ______________________ 30 3.2.3 The need for climate-related financial reporting disclosures __________________________ 31 3.2.4 The need for taxation reform ___________________________________________________ 31 3.2.5 Emergence of new reporting practices ___________________________________________ 33 3.2.6 Increase in number of standards and guidelines ____________________________________ 35 3.2.7 The need for assurance reform __________________________________________________ 35 3.2.8 Increase in global disruptions ___________________________________________________ 38 Research highlights of Report 17 – Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose ______________ 39 4. Insight: McGuinness Institute research ___________________________________________________ 41 4.1 Topic 1: Attitudes (the surveys) ______________________________________________________ 43 4.1.1 2017 Extended External Reporting (EER) surveys __________________________________ 43 4.1.2 2019 Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) survey _______________ 48 4.2 Topic 2: Mandatory reporting framework ______________________________________________ 50 4.2.1 Legal reporting requirements for financial statements _______________________________ 51 4.2.2 Legal reporting requirements for annual reports ___________________________________ 52 4.2.3 Public accessibility implications ________________________________________________ 56 4.3 Topic 3: Voluntary reporting frameworks _____________________________________________ 58 4.4 Topic 4: Outstanding annual report disclosure issues _____________________________________ 61 4.4.1. Risks ______________________________________________________________________ 61 4.4.2 Climate-related information ___________________________________________________ 62 4.4.3. Gender and cultural representation ______________________________________________ 65 4.4.4. Health and safety ____________________________________________________________ 66 4.4.5. Political donations ___________________________________________________________ 67 4.4.6. Tax paid in cash to the New Zealand Government _________________________________ 68 4.4.7 Penalties ___________________________________________________________________ 69 4.4.8 Intangible assets _____________________________________________________________ 69 4.5 Topic 5: Assurance ________________________________________________________________ 72 5. Analysis of the reporting framework _____________________________________________________ 74 5.1 Institutions _______________________________________________________________________ 75 5.2 Instruments ______________________________________________________________________ 78 5.2.1 Financial statements __________________________________________________________ 78 5.2.2 Annual reports ______________________________________________________________ 84 5.3 Information ______________________________________________________________________ 86 5.3.1 Accessibility (filing/lodging/publishing information) _______________________________ 86 5.3.2 Assurance (reliable information) ________________________________________________ 91 6. Policy knots shaping the reporting framework ____________________________________________ 95 6.1 Who should the reporting framework be designed for: shareholders or stakeholders? __________ 95 6.2 Who is in control – the CEO, the board or the shareholders – and who are they being held accountable to?____________________________________________________________________ 99 6.3 Which policy instruments should be used: financial statements, annual reports and/or regulatory filings? ________________________________________________________________ 102 6.4 Who should write and regulate reporting and assurance policy, and which disclosures should be mandatory? ___________________________________________________________________ 107 7. Package of climate-related reporting recommendations ____________________________________