Exploring voluntary reporting of intellectual capital in the banking sector

This exploratory study examines the voluntary reporting practices of intellectual capital by leading European banks. Its contribution is twofold: first, it investigates a sector that has been overlooked despite its dominant role in economies and second, it responds to the call for longitudinal analyses in the field of intellectual capital reporting. The empirical analysis is conducted over a nine-year period (2001-2009), prior and after the implementation of the market discipline pillar of Basel II, which is argued to potentially affect the level of IC disclosure. Content analysis is applied using a widely used framework, slightly modified to take into consideration the peculiarities of the sector, including the knowledge intensive aspect. The sample consists of annual and dedicated reports of five universal banks headquartered in Europe. Findings indicate that this reporting occurs primarily in a narrative form, and is seldom factual and verifiable. Forward-looking information is extremely rare, as well as quantified information. In relative terms, relational capital is the most reported category, followed by human and structural capital. Over the period, a strong upward trend is observed for structural capital, suggesting an increased awareness of the importance of strong management processes and corporate culture. Disclosure levels of human and relational capital are relatively high and also increase, though to a lower extent, during the covered period. Findings also suggest that banks are engaged in a virtuous cycle of increasingly reporting intellectual capital.