Disclosure of Liabilities in Brazil in Light of International Accounting Standards

• Autor(a) principal: Filho, Álvaro Augusto Ricardino
• Data de Publicação: 2004
• Outros Autores: Luiz, Ivone Gonçalves, Santana, Luciene
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: BBR. Brazilian Business Review (English edition. Online)
• Texto Completo: http://www.bbronline.com.br/index.php/bbr/article/view/476
• topic: liability disclosure; international accounting standards; disclosure passivo; normas contábeis internacionais

This article investigates the use of liability disclosure concepts, according to the standards introduced by the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (UN-ISAR) in 1997. We analyzed the financial statements of the ten best Brazilian companies classified by the ANEFAC/FIPECAFI/SERASA Transparency Award for 2003, considered by a committee of specialists as having the best accounting publications for that year. By examining the content of these financial statements, we determined the level of adherence of these companies to international liability disclosure standards, i.e., the classification of liabilities into legal, constructive and equitable obligations. We found that Brazilian companies still disclose liabilities in the traditional form, only considering legal obligations, not constructive and equitable ones. This is true even when these companies published statements in other countries.