Abstract:
This study aims to explore the practices of sustainability reporting by leading
financial services sector institutions in Sri Lanka when compared to GRI
guidelines. The GRI guidelines which is used for the comparison purpose for
the Financial Services sector (FSS) institutions include both GRI G4
framework and 16 GRI FSS specific performance indicators. In this study, the
researcher investigated the FSS’s reporting in five wide areas of sustainability,
which include environment, labor practices and decent works, product
responsibility, human rights and society. The annual reports published in 2015
related to 15 leading financial institutions, which are listed on the Colombo
Stock Exchange (CSE) were examined and coded using a technique called as
content analysis.The overall findings of the research suggests that there is a
lack of reporting on sustainability, however when the extent of disclosure is
concerned, the society related information is broadly disclosed which is
followed by disclosures on product responsibility and the issues related to
environment. Moreover, the disclosures related to labor practices and decent
work and human rights related information were relatively rare in the reports
of financial institutions. Further, on the matter FSS- disclosures, less than 30%
of the financial institutions have disclosed out of all sample financial
institutions. Moreover, even within that 30% there is an inadequacy in the
disclosure.The findings of the paper specify that the Sri Lankan financial
institutions’ social disclosures could progress in this way to become more
holistic and eventually (in association with the country’s central bank, CSE
and other regulatory institutions) to come up with a type of arranged reporting
to the point where they are appropriately branded as per the requirement.
