Norms of International and Financial Law: General Features and
Problems (Aspects of Public Administration)
VICTORIA SHEKHOVTSOVA
Department of Organization of Scientific Work,
Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine,
Mariupol, UKRAINE
OLENA GUZENKO
Krivorizhkiy Education and Scientific Institute,
Faculty № 2, Department of Civil and Economic Law,
Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Mariupol, UKRAINE
OKSANA SOLDATENKO
Department of Law,
Poltava University of Economics and Trade
Poltava, UKRAINE
OKSANA BORYSIUK
Faculty of Economics,
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Kyiv, UKRAINE
Abstract: - The rules of financial law in connection with the worldwide spread of sustainable development
concept apply to the social and environmental aspects of the operation of companies. EU legislation provides
for accountability of organizations for the management of social and environmental challenges. This study
aims to highlight the common features and issues of financial law at the international and national levels on
the example of companies with international investment. Results of the research. The study highlights how
companies with international investment in Ukraine ensure compliance with financial law and how this
practice generally affects business strategy, business model, social behavior, and environmental protection.
The common features of the norms of international and financial law within the EU are determined due to the
adaptation and policy of integration of the norms into the national legal framework. Member States have
adapted the new provisions of Directive 2014/95/EU, companies make public social and environmental
operations following the new requirements. The implementation of financial law standards provides the
company with several advantages. CSR reporting may not be in line with the actual business focus on
environmental sustainability, as it stems from the voluntary nature of this type of reporting, which is contained
not only in the law of Directive 2014/95/EU but also in the reporting of Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian
companies. Sustainability reports do not guarantee effective management practices for the company’s
environmental and environmental issues. The theoretical value of this study lies in complementing the concept
of social responsibility: the concept of social responsibility applies to reporting to investors, not society,
helping to create business value and increase investment opportunities and maintain profitability.
Key-Words: - Financial law, financial law, Directive 2014/95/EU, sustainable development reports, corporate
social responsibility.
Received: April 8, 2022. Revised: April 9, 2023. Accepted: May 2, 2023. Published: June 1, 2023.
Financial Engineering
DOI: 10.37394/232032.2023.1.9
Victoria Shekhovtsova, Olena Guzenko,
Oksana Soldatenko, Oksana Borysiuk
E-ISSN: 2945-1140
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1 Introduction
The concept of corporate social responsibility is
integrated into the activities of financial markets,
which leads to the development of socially
responsible investment (Pizzi, 2018). The rules of
financial law in connection with the worldwide
spread of the concept of sustainable development
apply to the social and environmental aspects of the
operation of companies. EU legislation provides for
accountability of organizations for the management
of social and environmental challenges. However,
the preconditions for the development of the rule of
law concern the formation of a single financial
market within the EU and the provision of
sustainable economic growth, especially after the
2008 financial crisis. The rules of financial law
ensure the leveling of financial instability risks, in
particular through the assessment of the regulation
of companies to ensure the compatibility of rules
between different countries (Pennesi, 2021). An
additional factor in the development of these norms
is the policy of combating money laundering
through additional non-financial information of
large international companies. Disclosure of non-
financial information meets the information needs
of various stakeholders. However, this requires
companies to implement a responsible approach to
doing business (Manes-Rossi et al., 2018), as well
as additional costs for environmentally friendly
production technologies. Traditional financial
statements do not provide complete information to
control and audit bodies. Therefore, the European
Union has approved Directive 2014/95/EU (EU
Directive) and EU Guidelines 2017/C215/01 to
strengthen corporate accountability and
governance.
This study aims to highlight the common features
and issues of financial law at the international and
national levels on the example of companies with
international investment.
The research highlights how companies with
international investment in Ukraine ensure
compliance with financial law and how this practice
generally affects business strategy, business model,
social behavior, and environmental protection.
2 Literature review
The scientific literature actively discusses the
implementation of the European Union Directive
2014/95 on non-financial and diversity information
(European Parliament and of the Council, 2014a),
which came into force in 2017 to strengthen
corporate accountability and increase the legitimacy
of non-financial accountability (La Torre et al.,
2018). EU member states are adapting legislation to
the new rules of financial law. Legal norms are
partly an incentive for the formation of links
between the concepts of intellectual capital,
corporate social responsibility, environmental
protection, sustainability, ethics in the modern
world (Banța, 2019).
Manes-Rossi et al. (2018) argue that European
companies in non-financial accountability cover
information on social issues, personnel issues, and
the environment. This ensures that the legitimacy of
companies operating within the EU is preserved. To
meet the needs of investors, organizations provide
comprehensive information on management and
business risks. Corporate Social Responsibility
Report, Sustainability Report and Integrated Report
(CSR) Report, Sustainability Reporting (SR), and
the Integrated Report (IR) are the main forms of
corporate accountability (Nicolo, Zanellato &
Tiron-Tudor, 2020).
Venturelli et al. (2017) examine information
gaps in the reporting of 223 Italian companies to
propose amendments to Directive 2014/95/EU and
confirm the high level of compliance with EU
financial law, improving the quality of information
disclosure. Content analysis of non-financial
information of Romanian listed companies for
2017‒2019 shows a slight increase in disclosure
(Beleneși, Bogdan & Popa, 2021). An analysis of
the publication of Spanish companies’ reports in
early 2018 shows the impact of the operating sector
on the coverage of information and is published in
the report on sustainable development (Sierra-
Garcia, Garcia-Benau & Bollas-Araya, 2018).
Disclosure of risks about the risks of the metals and
mining sector of Austria, in particular liquidity
risks, provides investors with useful information
necessary for investing (Thai & Birt, 2019). The
introduction of a mandatory audit committee in EU
public companies has had a positive impact on the
quality of financial reporting and corporate
governance (Bajra & Čadež, 2018). Carini et al.
(2018) reveal duplication of information in
financial statements and sustainability statements,
but the rule of law ensures the effectiveness of
accountability, especially in strategic sectors of the
economy (oil, gas, and industry). At the same time,
companies need to invest more in social and
environmental actions (Carini et al., 2018). The
main benefits of companies are increasing the level
of trust of stakeholders, integrating social
responsibility strategies into practice, and
increasing the efficiency of companies (Artene
et al., 2020). Aras, Tezcan & Furtuna (2019) prove
the corporate sustainability of the banking sector in
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Victoria Shekhovtsova, Olena Guzenko,
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Turkey through the practice of disclosure in
corporate reports.
Table 1 shows the results of the analysis of
compliance with the content of financial statements
of companies and the requirements of Directive
2014/95. The most open are social and employee
issues, which are rated 0.98 (49 out of
50 companies report this item in their reports),
followed by environmental issues with a score of
0.94.
Table 1: The compliance level for content
Content
N (Number of firms disclosing the content)
Compliance Index
Business Model
31
0.62
Policies and Due Diligence
27
0.54
Outcome
15
0.30
Principal Risks and Their Management
45
0.90
Key Performance Indicators
39
0.78
Environmental Matters
47
0.94
Social and Employee Matters
49
0.98
Respect for Human Rights
34
0.68
Anti-Corruption and Bribery Matters
37
0.74
Reporting Frameworks
20
0.40
Board Diversity Disclosure
41
0.82
Source: Manes-Rossi, Tiron-Tudor, Nicolò & Zanellato, (2018).
A study by Biondi, Dumay & Monciardini,
(2020) argues that in the crisis of 2020‒2021,
caused, inter alia, by the spread of the pandemic,
companies should prefer capitalism over
sustainable development, which shapes the value of
a business. The main reason is that companies
supply the capital to financial markets and financial
services, and additional accountability is a burden
on companies.
Some studies examine the level of compliance
of annual reports with the rules of law of Directive
2014/95. For example, Guse et al. (2019) analyzed
the annual reports of 20 companies listed in
Romania for 2015 to determine their readiness to
implement the rules. The results indicate an average
level of compliance, as most content elements were
disclosed by approximately 50 % of the firms in the
sample. In particular, concerning social and labor
issues, Guse et al. (2019) argue for a high level of
compliance only with certain requirements of the
content of the Directive, such as working
conditions and respect for workers’ rights. Instead,
a high level of compliance of the content of
company reports with the requirements for
environmental responsibility related to
environmental impact was revealed. In the case of
Polish listed companies, Dyduch & Krasodomska
(2017) examined 60 annual reports to examine the
level of non-financial disclosure required by the
Directive and the factors that may determine
disclosure. As a result, more than half of companies
do not disclose any environmental information in
their annual reports, and some factors, such as
capital turnover, stock market listing duration,
environmental sensitivity of the industry, and
reputation, significantly affect the disclosure of
non-financial information under the EU Directive.
In Poland, Adaui (2020) analyzes a sample of
150 listed companies, focusing on annual reports,
corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, and
company websites to study the quality and level of
CSR disclosure, the level of compliance with the
new requirements of the Polish Accounting Act
(PAA) for the disclosure of non-financial
information following Directive 2014/95/EU. The
study found that companies prefer annual reports to
provide voluntary CSR information; there is a
limited level of compliance with the new PAA non-
financial disclosure requirements. In particular, the
sample companies placed little emphasis on
reporting on human rights and the fight against
corruption.
An analysis of the scientific literature shows the
common features of international and financial law
within the EU. Member States have adapted the
new provisions of Directive 2014/95/EU,
companies make public social and environmental
operations under the new requirements.
3 Methodology
The first stage of the study was aimed at analyzing
the legal norms of Directive 2014/95/EU and
research to determine the information required by
the Directive and compliance with financial law by
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companies in different EU countries. This became
the basis for further analysis and determination of
the theoretical basis, which serves as a basis for the
harmonization of accounting by companies in the
field of non-financial disclosure.
The study analyzes the EU Directive 2014/95
and the specific disclosure requirements (what) and
information structure (where). Due to the low level
of specification of the EU Directive, other studies
and international recommendations have been
studied in detail. In particular, the GRI G4 and
IPIECA/API Recommendations were considered.
These recommendations are widely used by
companies to report on sustainable development. In
addition, EU law also recognizes these guidelines
as important references to regulatory compliance.
Finally, previous research on companies in different
sectors of the EU economy has been examined to
better qualify the information on the business
model required by the EU Directive.
To analyze the content of reports, an
information disclosure assessment system was
used, i. e. an analysis technique that involves
classifying information by pre-selected categories
and subcategories and further measuring the
appropriate levels of disclosure. This technique is
considered a partial form of content analysis.
The study consisted of the following stages:
‒ analysis of previous studies and official
documents mentioned above, in particular, EU
Directive 2014/95;
‒ definition by the research group of
information categories and subcategories in the
context of the results of the previous stage of the
research;
‒ construction of a structure with an assessment
of disclosure and definition of rules of
identification of separate variables relating to
categories and subcategories;
‒ application of the method of content analysis
of integrated reports, sustainability reports,
financial statements, audit reports, management
reports with an emphasis on the sustainability
section and the corporate governance section based
on the reporting of Philip Morris International
companies (2021); Imperial Tobacco (2021);
PJSC A/T Tobacco Company (2021).
4 Results
In recent years, the European Union (EU) has met
the information needs of investors and stakeholders
on the long-term risks of large companies, as well
as the need for information on environmental and
social sustainability. To this end, the EU issues
Directive 2014/95/EC (European Parliament and of
the Council, 2014a), which requires companies to
disclose financial information to satisfy the public
interest as well as EU Guidelines 2017/C215/01
(EUG) on the support of organizations in the event
of a disclosure. The EU directive aims to provide
companies with a package of information that is
considered non-financial. The EUG aims to “help
companies disclose high quality, relevant, useful,
consistent and more comparable non-financial
(environmental, social and governance-related)
information in a way that fosters resilient and
sustainable growth and employment, and provides
transparency to stakeholders […]. They are
intended to help companies draw up relevant,
useful concise non-financial statements according
to the requirements of the Directive” (European
Parliament and of the Council, 2014b).
The ultimate goal of the Directive is to extend
the harmonization process from the disclosure of
financial data, which is already provided per IFRS
by listed companies in all European countries to
the disclosure of non-financial information.
However, the disclosure of non-financial
information is traditionally voluntary. Thus, the
European Union has allowed companies to choose
the framework they want to adopt to provide the
information required by the Directive.
In general, the reporting of companies shows
minimum compliance with financial law standards
(Table 2). Companies carry out socially responsible
activities, which are manifested primarily in
energy-efficient production, waste management,
improving staff motivation systems, and monitoring
compliance with the law. Philip Morris
International’s integrated report for 2019 (2021)
most fully meets the requirements of financial law,
in particular, Directive 2014/95/EU. This report
provides financial indicators, indicators of business
transformation, environmental protection, social
indicators, indicators of effective management of
the company. The PJSC A/T Tobacco Company
Sustainability Report (2021) contains similar
information: strategy, value creation, waste
reduction, environment, social contribution and
governance, performance indicators. Integrated
reporting (IR) as an innovative form of
communication that combines financial and non-
financial information in one document is
considered to be one of the most appropriate tools
for compliance with the Directive. Although IR is
mainly for commercial companies, IR is a reliable
tool for accountability and transparency, where
stakeholder pressure on non-financial
accountability has increased dramatically.
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Table 2: Reporting of companies following the rules of financial law
PJSC “Philip
Morris Ukraine”
“Imperial Tobacco
Production Ukraine”
British American
Tobacco Ukraine
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Source: Philip Morris International (2021); Imperial Tobacco (2021); PJSC A/T Tobacco Company
(2021).
Analysis of management reports shows
descriptive inaccurate content that can not
characterize the social and environmental
responsibility of companies (Table 3). Imperial
Tobacco Production Ukraine covers the
management of the activity most fully. The
company operates based on a management model
that ensures the sustainability of the business,
including minimizing risks in the implementation
of regulatory documents. In corporate governance,
the company uses a comprehensive approach based
on 2 lines of protection:
1) risk identification and control;
2) centers of expertise;
3) compliance with rules and regulations.
Table 3: Management report: compliance of the content with the law
Content
Content
Organizational structure
and description of
activities
Mission, purpose, brands, structure
Performance results
Key financial indicators for the last two years (2018‒2019): net income, cost,
operating profit, pre-tax financial result, and net profit
Liquidity and liabilities
Calculation of liquidity ratios and comparison with regulatory values
Environmental aspects
Measures to eliminate the negative impact on the environment are almost
non-existent
Social aspects and
personnel policy
Describes the process of work motivation, protection, and safety of workers,
training and education, protection of human rights, anti-corruption measures
Risks
Macroeconomic and political risks of the activity are described
Research and innovation
PJSC Philip Morris Ukraine does not conduct research.
Imperial Tobacco Production Ukraine conducts marketing research
Financial investments
Absent in PJSC “Philip Morris Ukraine”. Imperial Tobacco Production
Ukraine has invested in financial instruments of other companies
Development prospects
Transformation of the industry by offering quality products.
“Imperial Tobacco Production Ukraine” is focused on making a profit based
on corporate social responsibility
Source: formed by the author based on Philip Morris International (2021); Imperial Tobacco (2021); PJSC
A/T Tobacco Company (2021).
Directive 2014/95/EU has significantly affected
the social responsibility of foreign-invested
companies in Ukraine, which are transforming
business strategies and models. At the same time,
the adaptation of the law takes into account the
interests of stakeholders. Companies ensure cost
reductions through the introduction of
environmentally friendly production technologies
or the introduction of international standards or
waste management systems (Table 4). These
measures provide a competitive advantage for
companies in the domestic market.
Table 4: Tools for implementing the norms of international financial law by companies in Ukraine:
technologies, standards, legal norms, research, strategies, and approaches to operation
TNCs
Indicator
PJSC “Philip
Development of alternative products, social contribution to health care, and
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Morris Ukraine”
promotion on the market of products that are less harmful to public health.
Research activities: conducting clinical trials, publications in peer-reviewed
scientific journals of new methods and technologies of product development.
Introduction of scientific standards
“Imperial Tobacco
Production
Ukraine”
Technological support and updating of technical condition, working conditions of
staff, product quality assurance (operation of the product testing laboratory),
implemented international quality management standards ISO 9001, environmental
standards ISO 14001, and the standard of industrial safety and health OHSAS 18001.
Use of modern information technologies, automation of logistics and warehousing.
Protection of products against illicit distribution (Agreement with the International
European Organization for Combating Economic Fraud OLAF on cooperation in
combating the illicit trade in tobacco).
Introduction of a system for monitoring the movement of products to the level of the
first Track & Tracing client
British American
Tobacco Ukraine
Sustainable development strategy: safe working conditions, professional
development of staff, responsible marketing, compliance with environmental
standards, information openness and transparency, taking into account the
commercial interests of the activities and the interests of stakeholders.
Funding of the Center for Entrepreneurship Support in Pryluky.
Using a proactive approach in corporate strategy, which involves minimizing risks
and working to prevent accidents.
Environmental protection, reduction of production impact on the environment (98 %
of factory production waste is sorted and sent for recycling).
Waste management, energy efficiency, raising environmental awareness of
employees.
Cooperation with Ichnia National Nature Park and implementation of projects for the
implementation of environmental programs (program “Ecokrok” for planting trees)
Source: formed by the author based on Philip Morris International (2021); Imperial Tobacco (2021); PJSC
A/T Tobacco Company (2021).
The introduction of financial law standards
provides the company with several advantages:
impact on the structure of the internal market, faster
access to VAT refunds due to competitive
advantages (scale of activity, professionalism of
employees in the refund mechanism, etc.),
possession of the most qualified labor resources,
environmental protection.
5 Discussion
Analysis of the content of reports collected on
the official websites of companies shows that large
companies with foreign investment in Ukraine are
characterized by a high level of compliance with
Directive 2014/95/EU. This behavior indicates that
companies are seeking legitimacy and using the
opportunity to open legitimacy to society following
international standards, aware of environmental
issues and sustainability. Some of the slight
differences found among companies belonging to
different sectors can be explained by the greater
focus on the disclosure of information provided by
businesses operating in environmentally sensitive
industries. According to the legality approach,
firms belonging to environmentally sensitive
industries tend to provide more complete social and
environmental disclosures about the impact, which
conducts their business to reduce community
concerns, maintain market respect, and thus
legitimize their actions. Moreover, the analysis
showed that companies are increasingly using
integrated reports to consolidate financial and non-
financial information and disclose them in a more
concise form (Manes-Rossi, Tiron-Tudor, Nicolò &
Zanellato, 2018).
Businesses demonstrate a sufficient level of
disclosure following Directive 2014/95/EU. This
testifies to the usefulness of financial norms of law
in increasing the accountability of enterprises,
demonstrating convergence with the systems of
social values, norms, and expectations of society.
Despite the mandatory requirements, the level of
disclosure remains stable (Nicolo, Zanellato &
Tiron-Tudor, 2020). This signals that coercive
pressure from the law has not had a decisive impact
on the level of disclosure. Regulation of legal
norms is an institutionalized practice of companies,
regardless of new requirements and standards. In
this sense, it can be assumed that the introduction
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of mandatory regulation has not stimulated non-
financial disclosure by enterprises (Nicolo,
Zanellato & Tiron-Tudor, 2020).
The results confirm the sufficient completeness
of environmental, social, employee-related
information, human rights information, and anti-
corruption information provided in the
sustainability report. However, the results showed
that there was some information that was still little
disclosed: information on environmental and labor
issues, risks related to social and human rights
issues, and KPIs on combating corruption and
bribery. The strategy and business model are
disclosed in the report. The results indicate the
presence of overlapping information between
different reports (Carini, Rocca, Veneziani &
Teodori, 2018).
The concept of social responsibility plays a
central role in the recent evolution of financial
markets due to the increased sensitivity of investors
to these issues (Benlemlih et al., 2018). Recent
global environmental scandals have highlighted that
CSR reporting may not be in line with the actual
focus of the business on environmental
sustainability. The potential discrepancy between
the two aspects related to sustainability stems from
the voluntary nature of this type of reporting, which
is contained not only in the law of Directive
2014/95/EU but also in the reporting of Italian,
Spanish and Ukrainian companies. Reporting and
environmental risk affect the company’s ability to
create value for shareholders in different ways.
Sustainability reporting is a tool that can anticipate
improving a company’s ability to make a profit
over time. In this case, the social and environmental
risks associated with economic activity, namely
negatively related to the company's ability to
generate income. Lack of control over the impact
on the environment harms the economic and
financial performance of the company.
Management implications are the ability for the
analyst to provide additional information on the
impact of firms on the environment. In fact,
according to previous research, managers tend to
disclose only positive information (Scalet & Kelly,
2010). In this sense, sustainable development
reports are not a guarantee of effective management
practices of socio-environmental issues
implemented by the company (Pizzi, 2018). From a
theoretical point of view, the transposition of
Directive 2014/95/EU into national legal systems is
an important tool, aimed at homogenizing the
information generated by the companies to which
this obligation applies. Harmonization of
information, as well as subsequent certification by
external entities, is a tool that allows the
shareholder to carry out comparative activities
between investments that have similar potential
benefits for investors. In fact, before the
introduction of this rule, EU financial markets
represented different levels of quality concerning
central solutions to socio-economic problems (Mio
et al., 2017). Moreover, the opportunity provided
by the legislator to adopt a model of social
responsibility can contribute to greater transparency
of socially responsible activities carried out by
management and ensure the positive effects of
increasing financial performance. Sustainability
indicators can provide added value for non-
financial corporate communications but are also
useful tools to support internal decision-making
processes (Raucci, & Tarquinio, 2020).
5 Conclusion
EU member states are adapting legislation to the
new rules of financial law. European companies in
non-financial accountability cover information on
social issues, personnel issues, and the
environment. This ensures that the legitimacy of
companies operating within the EU is preserved.
The main benefits of companies are increasing the
level of trust of stakeholders, integration of social
responsibility strategies into practice, and
increasing the efficiency of companies. This study
proves a high level of compliance only with certain
requirements of the content of the Directive, such
as working conditions and respect for workers’
rights.
In general, the reporting of companies shows
minimal compliance with financial law standards.
Companies carry out socially responsible activities,
which are manifested primarily in energy-efficient
production, waste management, improving staff
motivation systems, and monitoring compliance
with the law. Analysis of management reports
shows descriptive inaccurate content that cannot
characterize the social and environmental
responsibility of companies. Directive 2014/95/EU
has significantly affected the social responsibility
of foreign-invested companies in Ukraine, which
are transforming business strategies and models. At
the same time, the adaptation of the law takes into
account the interests of stakeholders. Companies
reduce costs through the introduction of
environmentally friendly production technologies
or the introduction of international standards or
waste management systems.
Further research should address the cost-
effectiveness of private-sector financial law in
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developing economies and how international
standards affect different sectors of the economy.
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
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The authors equally contributed in the present
research, at all stages from the formulation of the
problem to the final findings and solution.
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Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
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Conflicts of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare
that are relevant to the content of this article.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
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_US
Financial Engineering
DOI: 10.37394/232032.2023.1.9
Victoria Shekhovtsova, Olena Guzenko,
Oksana Soldatenko, Oksana Borysiuk
E-ISSN: 2945-1140
104
Volume 1, 2023