Non-financial reporting of companies and the necessity of its confirmation by auditors in Ukraine

The generalization of scientific approaches to the assessment of the financial stability of the banking system has demonstrated the multivariance of views on structuring and listing of financial stability indicators and has made it possible to distinguish three main ones: on the basis of macroeconomic and macro financial indicators; on the basis of separate indicators; based on synthetic indicators. It is proved that the latter is most effective since the large number and variability of financial ratios used by different authors to assess the level of financial stability of banking systems does not allow for unambiguous results. A hierarchic structure of indicators of the stability of the banking system is proposed, which is characterized by the simultaneous existence of a certain number, not ordered in a heterarchic manner. In accordance with it, the integral index of financial stability of the banking system includes subindices: stability of the NBU, stability of system banks, banks with foreign capital, banks with private capital, financial vulnerability of the banking system. The expediency of accounting for the indicators of financial risk assessment: credit, liquidity risk, interest rate, investment risk, unstable resource base risk, which are characterized by such financial ratios as part of provisions for depreciation of loans in the loan portfolio, is justified in the composition of such a synthetic indicator of the financial stability of the banking system; the norm of instant liquidity; net interest margin; part of the provision for depreciation of securities in the securities portfolio; coefficient of instability of the resource base. Also, indicators for assessing the stability of the central bank were proposed: indicators of the adequacy of reserves; indicators of the effectiveness of monetary policy; indicators of the effectiveness of foreign exchange regulation; indicators of compliance of banking supervision with the main principles of efficiency. This approach will allow taking into account all the structural components of the banking system in the process of assessing financial stability, on the one hand, and in time to identify potential threats to the loss of stability, on the other.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a meta-analysis of the relationship between determinant factors and tax evasion based on deterrence approach. Using the meta-analysis method, each statistical result of empirical studies is converted into r-pearson as standardized effect size, and then synthesized into a mean effect size in order to increase power and to resolve uncertainty. Theoretically, increasing audit, tax rate and tax penalty will decrease tax evasion. However, the results show that only tax rate has a significant impact on tax evasion. Synthesizing totally 478 outcomes from articles published between 1978 and 2018, there is a robust conclusion that decreasing tax rate is an effective tool in combating tax evasion. On the other hand, audit and penalty are not significant in influencing tax evasion. In addition, the results of heterogeneity analysis suggest that national culture and income level of the country are useful in explaining the impact of audit, tax rate and tax penalty on tax evasion. These findings should be of interest to policymakers. First, instead of sacrificing more resources in conducting audit or imposing more penalty, tax authorities should consider setting the tax rate as low as possible to diminish tax evasion. Second, considering that culture and income level influence the impact of audit and penalty on tax evasion, policymakers should consider national cultural values and income level condition when designing audit techniques and setting penalty structures.

Environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG) are considered to be the main factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of companies. This article focuses on comparing the ability of insurance companies to use an ESG-driven approach to managing their sustainable development. The study is conducted using comparative analysis, statistical analysis, and a case study method. The study compares six ESG Ratings on four main criteria (dependent variables, independent variables, scale type, sample), that allows choosing the most appropriate rating for the analysis of insurance companies. As a result, 156 insurance companies are compared by the level of ESG risk (low ESG risk – 24 companies, medium ESG risk – 111 companies, high ESG risk – 21 companies) and by geographical affiliation (26 countries) using descriptive statistics. The assessment of effectiveness of the ESG-driven approach to managing sustainable development of insurance companies is carried out on the example of 16 companies by comparing their non-financial reporting (the sample is selected based on of the annual report for 2019-2020). The study identifies the most common guidelines for report development, as well as components of the ESG-driven approach: environmental (waste and pollution, climate change, energy efficiency), social (workforce and diversity, customer engagement, communities), governance (code and values, reporting, risk management). The study systematizes the best practices of insurance companies for applying the ESG-driven approach to manage their sustainable development and highlights the need for insurance companies to improve their reporting and disclosure practices related to the development of the ESG-driven approach.

Acknowledgment
Comments from the Editor and anonymous referees have been gratefully acknowledged.