Disclosure of Ethical Breaches in Annual Financial Reports

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming ever-increasingly important in our society. This paper explores a company’s willingness to disclose information when it does not paint them in a positive light. Thirty companies’ annual reports were analyzed to explore how/if they disclosed a specific ethical breach. It was expected that many of these companies might either not disclose the ethical breach or that they may try to bury the breach in their annual report. My findings conclude companies appeared to disclose information in their annual report only when legally required.