دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی اختلال در دارایی های نامشهود و افشا توسط بانک های ایتالیایی - امرالد 2018

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the methods used to perform impairment test for intangible assets from a business combination and the information provided by the consolidated financial statements of a Group of Italian banks in the period 2009-2014. The purpose is to verify if, as assumed in literature, there is a positive link between profitability and the tendency of manager’s to post the impairment losses of intangible assets promptly and accurately. Design/methodology/approach – The existence of a link between profitability and the quality of disclosure was verified by constructing correlation indices, and then ascertaining not only the reliability but also the strength and direction of the statistical connection between the above two aspects. A multivariate linear regression reconfirmed the results obtained by the previous bivariate analysis. Findings – The results confirm the basic assumption, showing that the link between the aspects considered is statistically significant and positive in all the years in question. Originality/value – This study fills a gap, given that no papers were found in literature specifically pertaining to banks and other financial institutions. Moreover, the decision to focus the study on Italian banks seems to be particularly appropriate for a number of different reasons: before the financial crisis, Italian banks made numerous acquisitions, posting high amounts for intangible assets; the financial crisis made the stock market prices plummet, thus making it necessary to write-off intangible assets from business combinations; and even before the ESMA, the Bank of Italy intervened on several occasions on the question of reporting, urging Italian banks to comply with disclosure requirements and impairment criteria.

5. Conclusions

The analysis of a group of Italian banks in the period 2009-2014 showed a number of trends previously observed in literature. First, it would seem that the group as a whole postpones the posting of impairment losses on intangible assets from M&A; second, listed banks show greater compliance in the application of IAS-IFRS standards with respect to unlisted banks. In the first case, we believe this is due to ineffective corporate governance mechanisms and inadequate monitoring by the auditors. The most critical issue is that of modifying the parameters to perform the impairment test (expected cash flows, discount rate, and growth rates of the cash flows to estimate the terminal value). It would therefore be desirable for standard setters and market regulators to strengthen the enforcement system in the direction indicated. The calculation of impairment test should be consistent in time; in exceptional circumstances where preparers decide to redefine critical parameters, they should: explain the changes; explain the reasons why these changes produce reliable and more pertinent information; and provide restated comparative figures, adopting a what if approach. The basic assumption of this paper, namely that the best-performing banks disclose the best information for the impairment of intangible assets, is substantially confirmed by the results of the analysis performed.