The launch of the European New Green Deal represents a strategic plan developed in Europe to favor the transition to more sustainable business models. One of the main initiative is represented by the revision of the Directive 95/2014/EU. This revision came in response to several criticisms of the directive's application to European Public Interest Entities, including the low degree of comparability that characterize the resulting nonfinancial declarations. This research paper analyzes how 70 Italian PIEs adhere to the comparability principle when preparing their nonfinancial declarations. Furthermore, a difference-indifferences analysis has been performed to assess the impacts of Directive 95/2014/EU on nonfinancial declarations' comparability. Our results highlight how the comparability of nonfinancial reports is an objective not yet achieved. In this regard, the revision of Directive 95/2014/EU will represent an opportunity for policymakers to address this critical issue.

This research represents a preliminary analysis of the nonfinancial risk disclosure and the first after the introduction of the European directive. Using a content analysis, the level of nonfinancial risk disclosure after the introduction of the Directive 2014/95/EU on nonfinancial information has been investigated. Moreover, in order to understand the effectiveness of nonfinancial risk management, the outlook orientation (past, present, and future) and the approach to risk (positive, negative, and neutral) have been examined. The results show how the level of nonfinancial risk disclosure in Italian companies is better than before the introduction of the directive and also still based on the past and present perspective, rather than the future one.

Purpose The purposes of this paper are: firstly, to assess the disclosure related to climate change (CC) by major European banks to understand if the banks have grasped the most substantive aspects of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and secondly, to evaluate the contribution of a non-traditional committee (i.e. corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee) to TCFD-compliant disclosure. Design/methodology/approach Using content analysis and ordinary least squares regressions on a sample of 101 European banks, this study sought to investigate completeness, tone and forward-looking orientation of CC disclosure and explore the relationships between CSR committee and previous disclosure aspects. Findings This study shows that European banks have been able to reach an intermediate level of adequacy of compliance in terms of completeness of information but forward-looking orientation seems to be the aspect that needs the most improvement. The existence of a CSR committee dedicated to sustainability issues seems to constitute the difference between the banks in terms of disclosure. The results highlight vulnerabilities in disclosure and board characteristics relevant for improving CC disclosure. Practical implications Firms interested in strengthening stakeholder engagement and capturing strategic opportunities involved in CC should be encouraged to establish a CSR committee and appoint female directors in financial companies. This paper should be of interest to policymakers, governance bodies and boards of directors considering the initiative of corporate sustainable governance complementary to Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting by the European Commission. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has investigated the relationship between the CSR committee and the application of the TCFD’s recommendations in the European banking industry.

Family firms are embarking on a virtuous path increasingly oriented toward sustainable development. The corporate social responsibility (CSR), more and more regarded as a positive driver for the reputation and preservation in the medium to long term for the company, is now an element that falls within the credit valuations of banking firms. Our research investigates CSR communication and practices in small and medium‐sized family businesses. Using the socioemotional wealth perspective, we analyze the effect of family control and influence on CSR behavior. We perform a Poisson regression on an Italian regional sample of 200 family businesses. Our study reveals a greater propensity of family businesses to practices rather than CSR communication. Family control has a positive effect on CSR practices, while family involvement has an adverse effect on CSR communication. Besides, strong control and involvement have a negative effect on CSR communication.

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the emerging debate on materiality with novel and original insights about the managerial and theoretical implications related to the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as reporting standards. Furthermore, the paper will evaluate the main drivers that favor the combination of the two standards by companies to develop new knowledge about the hierarchical relationship between financial and sustainability materiality. Design/methodology/approach Building on a sample of 2,046 US listed companies observed during the period 2017–2020, the research is conducted using quantitative methods. Multinomial logistic regressions are used to evaluate the differences between GRI and SASB’s adoption. Findings The analysis highlights that financial and sustainability materiality are driven by different purposes. In detail, SASB’s adoption is driven by factors directly related to financial dynamics, while GRI’s adoption is influenced by the existence of corporate governance mechanisms inspired by sustainable and ethical principles. Furthermore, the last analysis reveals that the combination of the two standards is characterized by the predominance of sustainability materiality. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the relationship between financial and sustainability materiality.