Social Responsibility for Insurance Companies

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to verify the quantity and quality of reporting non-financial information disclosed by commercial insurance companies based in the Czech Republic and foreign commercial insurance companies with branches in the Czech Republic. The obligation to disclose non-financial information was introduced in 2017 by the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU in Czech accounting legislation. To verify the quantity and quality of reporting non-financial information before and after the implementation of the Directive, a comparative analysis was used, examining the years 2016 and 2020. Key indicators from five main areas of non-financial reporting were identified and subsequently the level of their reporting by insurance companies was monitored. All insurance companies in the CR, divided into three main groups, were analysed. These are insurance companies obliged to disclose non-financial information, insurance companies defined as large entities under the Accounting Act, and a group of other insurance companies. The quality of the information reported was assessed using a scoring scale. At the same time the level of reporting non-financial information in the sector of financial institutions in the Czech Republic was compared with the level of reporting in the V4 countries, Germany, and France. Another part of the research was statistical modelling, which by means of correlation and regression analysis identified which factors influence the quality and the level of non-financial reporting. It was shown that gross written premiums and number of employees have the greatest influence. The research revealed that after the implementation of the Directive, there was an increase in non-financial reporting not only in the group of insurance companies obliged to report non-financial information but also in insurance companies with no obligation to do so. The increase in reporting was therefore not only caused by the implementation of the Directive in Czech accounting legislation but also by the growing trend of social responsibility.