ADHERENCE TO DISCLOSURE PRACTICES RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES BY THE BRAZILIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Abstract

Based on Laws 11,638/07 and 11,491/09, the Accounting Pronouncements Committee (CAP) issued Technical Pronouncement CPC 13 to ensure that the first financial statements prepared under the new laws represent an appropriate starting point and defined a minimum set of disclosure practices to be adopted by companies when publishing statements for the year ended in December 2008. The current study investigates the degree of compliance with the guidelines defined in CPC 13 by the companies listed on the BM&FBovespa and examines whether there was better compliance by companies listed for trading in that exchange’s segments requiring enhanced corporate governance. This descriptive study investigates the explanatory notes to the standard financial statements published for the year ended in 2008 by 334 companies (sample). Descriptive statistical techniques using general analysis and nonparametric tests of differences between means were performed, using the Mann-Whitney model for measuring the research hypotheses. A lower degree of compliance with th e CPC 13 disclosure guidelines was observed regarding public companies, while companies listed in the enhanced governance segments of the BM&FBovespa showed greater compliance with the standards compared to those listed in the traditional segment.