Examining the extent to which the implementation of IFRS has affected the financial and narrative reporting. Evidence from the Greek banking sector’’, 8th International Conference on Enterprise Systems, Accounting, and Logistics (ICESAL)
Abstract
The financial system consists without hesitation one of the most important determinants of the national economies worldwide. The changes and challenges that the financial institutions face have a great impact on the economic growth of a country as well as in the configuration of the economic environment of each market. A healthy market needs a stable financial system in order to convey capitals from the “surplus economies to the deficits ones” in order funds to be invested in the productive process. The structure and the function of the financial sector are differentiated from country to country and, as a result, there is a wide range of forms that financial institutions comprise. However, the main source of the economic growth and stability plays the banking sector. The latter goes at the very heart of the financial system and its influence in national economies is critical as it deploys effectively the funds in the economic cycle. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the extent to which the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the Greek banking sector has affected their financial and narrative reporting between the periods prior (2002-2004) and after (2005-2007) the implementation of the IFRS. The study analyses the most important Greek commercial banks and is regarded to present the effects of this alternation.
Keywords: IFRS, financial reporting quality, management commentary, Greek banking Sector