A study of corporate social disclosure in the finance sector in Bangladesh

Purpose: This paper investigates finance companies’ corporate social reporting in Bangladesh, a developing country. A favorable investment climate is one of the preconditions for a country to prosper economically. This can be ensured by good corporate social reporting by finance sector companies. In Bangladesh, finance sector companies together hold 43.82% of total market capitalization on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and 26.54% of GDP, which is proportionately large for a country like Bangladesh. No studies have previously explored the commitment to environmental and social disclosure by finance sector companies operating in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach: Content analysis instruments are used to analyse corporate social reporting by listed finance companies in Bangladesh. Findings: Analysis of annual reports published in 2007-2008 reveals that 41% of listed finance sector companies made some kind of CSR disclosures. As a developing country, this figure is quite impressive compared to CSR disclosures in other sectors, like ceramics, engineering, IT, paper and printing. However, extensive survey of the contents, form, nature and extent of corporate social reporting of finance companies reveals that three quarters of all disclosures are generalized qualitative statements without any attempt at quantification. More than half of disclosures are located in the director’s report, and the average length of disclosures amounted to less than half a page. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature as no previous studies have reported on finance sector companies and their record in corporate social reporting in developing countries, such as Bangladesh.