The standard of financial reporting in the Republic has improved dramatically over recent years, an award ceremony was told yesterday.
The quality of submissions to the Published Accounts Awards has increased substantially said Mr Tom Higgins, chairman of the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants, organiser of the event.
"It is encouraging to report that the standards of financial reporting in the annual reports... were very high and continue to show great improvement over previous years," he said.
DCC, the industrial holding company, won the award for largest quoted company, and Bórd Na Móna the award for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting. Other recipients were Jurys Doyle Hotel Group (small quoted company); Concern (charities and not-for-profit organisations) and ESB (statutory and unquoted large entities).
It is vital annual reports are as transparent as possible as they are crucial for keeping shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers fully informed about a company's activities, said Mr Donal Roche, managing partner of awards sponsor Matheson Ormsby Prentice.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that stock market listed companies in the European Union will be asked to publish sounder and more transparent financial reports under draft rules endorsed by EU finance ministers yesterday.
But under a compromise tabled by the Italian EU presidency, the rules fall short of introducing EU-wide compulsory quarterly reporting for listed firms.
