| Summary: | In the past, activities of business were motivated exclusively by the desire to maximize
their financial returns and the aim of corporate reports was to provide information about the
cash flow, financial position and financial performance of an entity. However, over the past
decade, increased awareness of developing accounting-style metrics for nonfinancial
business influences has led companies from being profit-driven to taking the triple bottom
line approach of incorporating economic, environmental and social values into corporate
measures of success. Sustainable enterprises should have honest and full accounting of
the impact of its actions and start with a vision that goes beyond producing profits for
investors to creating social, economic and cultural value for a wider community of
stakeholders.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published guidelines for sustainability reporting
(entitled 'Sustainability Reporting Guidelines') and is seen as the leading standard for
voluntary corporate reporting of environmental and social performance by companies and
other organizations worldwide. The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines includes Reporting
Principles, Standard Disclosures and an Implementation Manual for the preparation of
sustainability reports.
Given the significance of the financial-services industry in South Africa, this dissertation
reflects on the quality of integrated reporting of the financial-services industry by
determining the extent to which sustainability reports of financial companies adhere to the
GRI Guidelines and the Sector Supplements for Financial Services. An applied, quantitative
and descriptive methodology was used to answer the research questions. Using a sample
of 10 of the financial-services companies included in the JSE Top 40 companies, the
results show that these companies use the GRI Guidelines in producing their sustainability
report and that adherence improves annually. Some companies, however, do not apply the
Sector Supplements which were designed to include industry-specific influences. === MCom (Management Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
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