Purpose-Utilising a finer-grained approach, this paper examines the 'quality' of narrative risk management disclosures (RMD) from a 'quantity' and 'richness' (width and depth) perspective. Evidence is then provided on the relationships between RMD quality and the corporate determinants driving that quality. Design/methodology/approach-Within a multidimensional quality disclosure framework, annual report narrative RMD from the top 100 Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed companies precisely 'matched' for the 2010 and 2012 years were examined using semantic content analysis. The relationship between the dimensions and sub-dimensions of RMD 'quantity' and 'richness', and various corporate characteristics were explored using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis. Findings-The results indicate that RMD are considerably lacking in quality, from the 'quantity', 'width' and particularly the 'depth' dimension and sub-dimensions for both years. Many companies provide 'boiler plate' RMD over consecutive years and many do not comply with the intent of the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations (CGPR) under the 'if not, why not' regime (ASX CGC 2010). Company size and cross listing were found to be the primary determinants of higher quality RMD and to a lesser extent firm risk. Some evidence was found that 'quality' RMD were less likely where companies are more highly leveraged and when their shareholders are more concentrated. Research limitations/implications-Although two coders independently coded the RMD and specific decision rules were followed, the subjectivity inherent in conducting semantic content analysis into the dimensions and sub-dimensions of the framework cannot be completely eliminated. However, by adopting a finer-grained approach this study contributes to the global literature on the quality of RMD. Previous studies are extended by analysing and testing the individual dimensions and sub-dimensions of 'quantity' and 'richness' which provides new empirical evidence and a more comprehensive portrayal of RMD quality and a greater understanding why some companies are more likely to disclose higher quality RMD than others. Practical implications-These results provide useful and predominantly new empirical evidence on the quality of RMD for practitioners, regulators and researchers. As many companies are not complying with the 'intent' of the 'if not, why not' approach, these results support the argument for mandated narrative RMD regulations at an international level. Originality/value-The multidimensional framework of RMD 'quantity' and 'richness' provides a bases for examining not only how much is disclosed, but what is disclosed and how. In adopting a finer-grained approach, this study analyses and tests the individual dimensions and sub-dimensions of the framework. This provides a deeper understanding of the overall quality of RMD and the determinants driving RMD quality for the sample companies.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between risk management committees (RMCs) and risk management disclosure (RMD) quality. Specifically, the existence of stand-alone RMCs and a number of RMC characteristics, including RMC size, RMC independence, number of RMC meetings and RMC members’ human capital is investigated. Design/methodology/approach The sample comprises top 100 Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed companies during the period between 2010 and 2012, when RMD began to be guided by detailed recommendations in Australia. Following the RMD framework used by Jia et al. (2016), RMD quality is measured based on its quantity, relevance, width and depth. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were used to test the relationship between stand-alone RMC, RMC characteristics and RMD quality. Findings The results show that the existence of a stand-alone RMC, the human capital of RMC and RMC size are positively associated with RMD quality. In contrast, RMC independence and the number of RMC meetings are not found to have a significant association with RMD quality. Originality/value This study contributes to the current RMD literature by investigating whether a stand-alone RMC and different RMC characteristics are associated with RMD quality. The results of this study provide useful and new empirical evidence about the relationship between RMCs and RMD quality for researchers, companies, and regulators.

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Global concerns have been paid to the potential hazard of traditional herbal medicinal products (THMPs). Substandard and counterfeit THMPs, including traditional Chinese patent medicine, health foods, dietary supplements, etc. are potential threats to public health. Recent marketplace studies using DNA barcoding have determined that the current quality control methods are not sufficient for ensuring the presence of authentic herbal ingredients and detection of contaminants/adulterants. An efficient biomonitoring method for THMPs is of great needed. Herein, metabarcoding and single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing were used to detect the multiple ingredients in Jiuwei Qianghuo Wan (JWQHW), a classical herbal prescription widely used in China for the last 800 years. Reference experimental mixtures and commercial JWQHW products from the marketplace were used to confirm the method. Successful SMRT sequencing results recovered 5416 and 4342 circular-consensus sequencing (CCS) reads belonging to the ITS2 and psbA-trnH regions. The results suggest that with the combination of metabarcoding and SMRT sequencing, it is repeatable, reliable, and sensitive enough to detect species in the THMPs, and the error in SMRT sequencing did not affect the ability to identify multiple prescribed species and several adulterants/contaminants. It has the potential for becoming a valuable tool for the biomonitoring of multi-ingredient THMPs.

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