Non-financial information in IBEX 35: Comparison of voluntary vs compulsory elaboration and assurance

Purpose: Large companies are used to elaborating and verifying non-financial information voluntarily. InSpain, it is compulsorily required after Law 11/2018. These new compulsory requirements have led us tostudy how the previous voluntary practices have been modified and if there is a connection between theauditing and providing assurance company.Design/methodology: The studied sample compiles companies listed on IBEX 35 in 2018 to analyze thefirst year of application of Law 11/2018, 2018, and the previous one, the year 2017, when thisinformation was voluntarily disclosed. We have created a database with features of non-financialinformation to carry out a descriptive analysis segmenting the sample by year, cross tables and chi-squaretests. Findings: Big Fours are the companies that provide assurance of non-financial information as well asaudit the financial information of listed companies. Law 11/2018 has not implied important changes forthe IBEX 35 companies because what was compulsorily required at first was previously voluntarily done,i.e. the majority of companies have already applied GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standards when itwas voluntary and also when compulsory and they keep including non-financial information in themanagement report. It has been also checked that auditing and providing assurance firms are spe-cialized by sectors.Originality/value:Currently there is an intense discussion about the future of non-financialinformation regulation in Europe. The expected changes will affect the Spanish regulation as a MemberState. It is a need to contextualize the starting pointPeer Reviewe