Non Financial Disclosure

In Chapter III (Disclosure) of the Guidelines enterprises are encouraged to adopt disclosure or communication practices in areas where reporting standards are still evolving such as, for example, social, environmental and risk reporting: " Many enterprises provide information on a broader set of topics than financial performance and consider disclosure of such information a method by which they can demonstrate a commitment to socially acceptable practices. ".

Following the adoption of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 and its transposition through the Legislative Decree of 30 December 2016, no. 254, large enterprises and groups are obliged to publish, for each financial year a non-financial statement concerning environmental and social information personnel, respect for human rights and fight against corruption.

Subjects other than those included in the scope of application, on a voluntary basis, may draw up and publish individual or consolidated non-financial statements complying with the provisions of the aforementioned legislative decree and, on certain conditions, may affix a declaration of compliance with the decree.

On 19 January 2018 with resolution 20267, the Consob (the Italian National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange) approved the Regulations implementing the decree which establishes:

• How to directly transmit the non-financial statement to the Consob;
• any methods of publication of the non-financial declaration, additional to the filing with the Business Register;
• the methods and terms for Consob control;
• the principles of conduct and the procedures for carrying out the task of verifying the compliance of the information by the auditors.
• for companies and large groups, the obligation to present the non-financial statement concerning environmental and social information concerning personnel, respect for human rights and fight against corruption.

The decree specifies the profiles for which Consob is responsible for the disciplinary proceedings. In the event of incomplete or non-compliant declarations, Consob may ask the company concerned for the necessary integrations. If the company responds appropriately it avoids sanctions.

On April 21st 2021 the European Commission presented - as part of the package of measures to help improve the flow of money towards sustainable activities across the European Union - a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This proposal aims to improve the flow of sustainability information in the corporate world, by making sustainability reporting by companies more consistent, so that financial firms, investors and the broader public can use comparable and reliable sustainability information.

European Commission_Press release 21 April 2021: Sustainable Finance and EU Taxonomy: Commission takes further steps to channel money towards sustainable activities