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Regulations requiring French companies to disclose details of their
social and environmental performance have improved the overall quality
of their non-financial reports, according to a recent study.
Most of the 40 largest listed French companies by market capitalization have now adopted a CSR approach in their reporting, although a number are still dragging their feet, the research arm of Paris-based Groupe Alpha consultancy concludes. The findings are a boost for supporters of the regulatory approach, who argue that use of the stick rather than the carrot is the best way to improve reporting practices.
Since 2002, companies listed in France have been obliged to publish in the annual report details of ‘the manner in which they take account of the social and environmental outcomes of their activities’. Breaching the regulation, which affects 700 companies, carries no penalty.
Alpha Etudes’ study focused on the CAC 40 and found that eight companies had improved their social reporting in the last year, 19 had maintained its quality, and in a further eight the quality had dropped. The remaining five were either based outside France or had produced no current report. Studies in 2003 and 2004 found steady, if patchy, improvements in disclosure.
Daniel Goudard, director of Alpha Etudes, said: ‘The regulations were given a poor reception initially but companies are now falling in with [them] and we are seeing far more interesting information, even among the weaker performers.’ Several of the latter were financial institutions, among them Axa, BNP Paribas and Cap Gemini.
Most of the 40 largest listed French companies by market capitalization have now adopted a CSR approach in their reporting, although a number are still dragging their feet, the research arm of Paris-based Groupe Alpha consultancy concludes. The findings are a boost for supporters of the regulatory approach, who argue that use of the stick rather than the carrot is the best way to improve reporting practices.
Since 2002, companies listed in France have been obliged to publish in the annual report details of ‘the manner in which they take account of the social and environmental outcomes of their activities’. Breaching the regulation, which affects 700 companies, carries no penalty.
Alpha Etudes’ study focused on the CAC 40 and found that eight companies had improved their social reporting in the last year, 19 had maintained its quality, and in a further eight the quality had dropped. The remaining five were either based outside France or had produced no current report. Studies in 2003 and 2004 found steady, if patchy, improvements in disclosure.
Daniel Goudard, director of Alpha Etudes, said: ‘The regulations were given a poor reception initially but companies are now falling in with [them] and we are seeing far more interesting information, even among the weaker performers.’ Several of the latter were financial institutions, among them Axa, BNP Paribas and Cap Gemini.
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