Fatores explicativos do nível de evidenciação de arrendamentos após a adoção da IFRS 16 pelas empresas listadas no Índice Brasil 100

Abstract

This study sought to identify what are the explanatory factors of the level of information disclosure concerning leases, after the adoption, for the 2019 and 2020 financial years, of the Technical Pronouncement CPC 06 (R2) – correlated with the IFRS 16 standard – by Brazilian companies listed in the Brazil 100 Index (IBrX 100). According to CVM Resolution No. 787/17 and Brazilian Accounting Standard NBC TG 06 (R3) – which incorporated the CPC 06 (R2) -, the new rules should have been applied to the financial years starting from 1 January 2019. The Technical Pronouncement incorporated the IFRS 16, ending the distinction between financial and operational leasing. The recognition, by the lessee, of leases both in assets and in liabilities aimed to provide greater transparency to the accounting information released and improve comparability between companies that lease assets and companies that borrow to buy assets. 17 mandatory disclosure items extracted from the CPC 06 (R2) Technical Pronouncement were analyzed. The disclosure compliance of 77 non-financial Brazilian companies listed in the Brazil 100 Index (IBrX 100) were verified. The analysis encompassed 154 Standardized Financial Statements of 2019 and 2020, including Explanatory Notes and audit reports. It was found that the mean rate of compliance of the Brazilian companies throughout the first year of IFRS 16 adoption was 63,64% (2019); for the second year (2020), the mean rate of compliance was 61,73%. Then, some possible explanatory factors of the level of information disclosure were investigated, such as company size (through the logarithm of total assets), profitability, financial leverage, auditing company (separating those audited by a component of the “Big Four” auditing companies and others), corporate governance level (whether the company is part of the so-called New Market (Novo Mercado), Level 2 or Level 1 segments of the B3 Brazilian Stock Exchange), sector (separating the Oil, Gas & Biofuels sector from the other ones) and, finally, the crisis period brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The obtained results point out that there is a positive and significant association between the level of accounting information disclosure on leases and company size, while there was negative and significant association between the variables related to leverage, auditing by one of the “Big Four” and the crisis period brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The profitability, governance level and sector weren’t statistically significant. Thus, this study contributed to the understanding of the explanatory factors of the level of compliance in the disclosure of accounting information by Brazilian companies, following the mandatory application of the IFRS 16 standard. It is suggested for future research the inclusion of a larger number of entities in the sample and the incorporation of a longer period, as new financial statements with the application of CPC 06 (R2) rules become available over time. It is also suggested that other possible explanatory variables be tested, such as: EBITDA, capital markets performance, market liquidity, internationalization, equity control concentration and informational asymmetry.