Data di submission: giugno 2013
Data di accettazione: dicembre 2013

The growing complexity of concession arrangements has proved to be a source for problems in terms of the related accounting by operators, or at least up until the issue of IFRIC 12.
The research sought to verify if the introduction into Europe of the accounting interpretation has effectively and successfully increased the level and quality of the information released to the market. In making a contribution towards studies dedicated to the standardisation of accounting, the research first presented the repercussions on the disclosure during the first-time adoption and therefore sought confirmation of the hypothesis of an entirely nonuniform enactment in terms of its quality. In order to investigate the reasoning underlying the results ascertained further, the research has been extended to include the variables of corporate governance affecting financial reporting matters, thereby seeking to reveal any existing correlations. It has thus been possible to note a connection between corporate governance structures and quality of the disclosure made in the application of IFRIC 12; equally, we have been able to exclude the possibility that the ownership structure, analysed according to segment, should have any significant influence. Finally, the increased intelligibility of the financial reports as a result of the new interpretations was found to be entirely indifferent for financial market analysts. The research shows that the long-desired rules introduced by IFRIC 12, in reducing the uncertainty that existed prior to their issue, have not at the same time cancelled out the diversity - at times which is also significant - in the concrete application in terms of disclosures. In these latter terms, the desired standardisation of the financial disclosure is achieved, for the European companies examined, with a lesser degree of effectiveness than had been hoped for; therefore, having achieved the objective of standardizing the reference accounting standards - at least for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements of companies with securities that are traded on the regulated markets of the European Union - is a considerable result, but only partially sufficient, given that, in empirical terms, the application interpretation applied by the preparers, is not always the same.

Andrea Giornetti, Ph. D., adjunct professor and researcher in Business Economics at the Department of Production Law and Economics of "La Sapienza" University of Rome. Also lecturer of international accounting standards at the same university and author of essays on financial reporting from a national and international perspective.