Great Britain: government looking to stamp out modern slavery Reporting @en After the recent scandal surrounding the discovery of UK’s largest modern slavery network, where a gang in the West Midlands was found to have been busing over victims (400) from Poland, on 09 July the UK government announced it would be cracking down harder on corporates over the issue of slavery. Since 2015 large companies in the UK have to publish an annual report detailing their efforts to counter modern slavery, forced labor and human trafficking (c.f. article No. 9173). However the Interior Minister stated that requirements and fines could be made even stricter as the Ministry launched a new consultation that also includes broadening the scope of the legislation to encompass the public sector.
Spain: new non-financial information legislation comes into force Reporting @en New law 11/2018 that came into force on 29 December 2018 transposes the EU Directive on non-financial disclosure (2014/95) and introduces the requirement for companies to disclose non-financial information on the social and environmental impact of their businesses and to publish, on an annual basis, summaries of their strategies and the impacts of the initiatives they undertake to correct any identified imbalances (c.f. article No. 8721). In addition Spain’s legislature also introduced new transparency requirements pertaining to employment, salary changes and gender pay gaps, working organization, and social dialogue.
EU: the draft directive on non-financial reporting is on the right tracks to be adopted before the summer Reporting @en On February 26, COREPER, the group of diplomats representing the 28 Member States, adopted the compromise on the draft directive on non-financial reporting, negotiated between the European Parliament, the Council of EU Ministers and the Commission. This step could lead to the adoption of a text forcing listed companies and financial institutions with more than 500 employees to publish annual reports on their CSR policy.
EU: a draft directive on non-financial reporting could be adopted soon Reporting @en European Commission should adopt a draft directive aiming at improving transparency in businesses, particularly in the areas of environment, human rights and sustainable development, and on ways to combat corruption. The bill will also contain a chapter on the obligation for businesses to spread information about their diversity policy in their managing bodies. (Ref. 120675) The Directive followed two observations made by the Commission: 1) “Only 2,500 out of 42,000 large European Companies publish CSR or sustainability reports” and 2) information published by the companies “may not adequately address the needs of users.” “Market incentives appear insufficient or uneven,…
France: new CSR and extra-financial reporting conditions in listed and private companies Reporting @en The law of July 12, 2010, known as “Grenelle 2,” states that businesses of a certain size have to include extra-financial information to the board or supervisory board’s annual report and to give transparent commitments in favor of sustainable development. This law expands the law on May 15, 2001 known as “New Economic Regulations” (“nouvelles régulations économiques,” NRE) which introduced the principle of providing social and environmental data. It provides that the report will have to explain the policy in force in businesses, subsidiaries and the companies it controls in favor of sustainable development and adds to the list of social and environmental data to be included in the report. This obligation is also extended to unlisted companies of a certain size.
International: according to KPMG, CSR reporting has become the de facto law for business Reporting @en cabinet has been doing an international survey on reporting in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The 2011 edition shows a general increase in the phenomenon, and mostly that large businesses are increasingly aware of the advantages they can get from this exercise. (Ref. 110718) The study was carried out among the 250 largest businesses in the world (G250) and 3,400 businesses, representing the 100 largest companies in 34 countries (N100). …
Denmark: the law on CSR reporting catalyzed the development of socially responsible practices in large businesses Reporting @en “The law shows the right way, encouraging businesses to work and render accounts on their social responsibility.” This is how Minister for Economic Affairs Brian Mikkelsen presented, on September 1st, the outcome of the report on the application of the årsregnskabslov, the law of December 16, 2008 which forces the country’s 1,100 large businesses to tell about their CSR practices in their annual report. Enforced on January 1, 2009, the law imposes that they expose their CSR policies following three axes: their existence and the guidelines, the modalities and procedures of their implementation, and their results and possible future prospects. When there are no such policies, the companies have to explain why.
