An investigation about disclosure of operational risk: a multicase study in brazilian financial institutions

Abstract

This paper discusses operational risks in financial institutions. It tries to verify whether Brazilian financial institutions disclose the concept of operational risk, as well as other aspects related to risk management, according to the principles of the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision contained in the Sound Practices for the Management and Supervision of Operational Risk, specifically principles 01 (focused on the definition of operational risk) and 10 (public disclosure of risk management). Complementarily, the disclosure is also investigated through the use of the 20-F Form in those institutions that fill it in. In order to do this, the checklist based on the categories established by Helbok and Wagner (2004) was used. Their study is related to the disclosure of operational risk in banks. This paper is descriptive and comprises a theoretical review and a documental investigation of the banks’ financial statements and annual reports of December 2003. It comprehends those banks that have stocks negotiated in the stock exchange: Banco do Brasil S.A., Banco Bradesco S.A., Banco Itaú Holding Financeira S.A. and Unibanco – União de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. The main result is that these institutions do disclose operational risks through two means: financial reports disclosed in Brazil and the 20-F Form.

Key words: operational risk, disclosure, operational risk disclosure.