Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lucie Courteau Title: The information content of Fairness Opinions in M&A: Evidence from Italy Abstract: One of the major sources of inefficiencies in M&A transactions is the asymmetry of information between the bidder and the target. Several disclosure strategies are used by bidders to convince target shareholders to tender their shares but also to convince their own shareholders about the value of the proposed deal. Target managers also try to communicate to their shareholders their appreciation of the offer. To add credibility to this communication, experts are often called on to express an independent opinion on the offer price, in a document called the Fairness Opinion (FO). While FOs have been found to have no effect on deal efficiency in the US, this study re-examines the issue by considering the actual content of the document, in terms of the valuation process that leads to the expert opinion, in the context of Italian M&As where FOs are mostly voluntary and often provide detailed information about target valuation. The results show that even in a setting where weak enforcement of disclosure regulations allows bidders and targets to choose the level and detail of disclosure, the quality of the content of FO has only a weak association with the performance of the deal, both in terms of bidder announcement returns and of post-deal market and operating performance. Classification-JEL: G14, G34, D82, M41 Keywords: Note: Pages:5-46 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66435&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001001 Number: 1 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ivo Hristov Author-Name: Antonio Chirico Title: A critical approach to BSC studies: State of art, critical issues and future trends Abstract: The aim of this paper is to identify criticisms of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and create a new model that is more adequate for business performance, thus providing researchers and practitioners with a way to manage critical issues con-nected to the BSC. To this end, we devote our attention to two main research ques-tions: (1) What are the main critical dimensions in the existing studies on BSC? (2) How could the structure of the BSC be modified in order to take into account its critical dimensions? Accordingly, we review articles published in 429 journals, in 22 different subject areas of the Chartered Association of Business Schools? Academ-ic Guide (ABS). We examine a total of 342 papers and obtain 102 relevant papers that focus on criticism of the BSC. Thanks to the information obtained from a survey and interviews conducted with managers of Italian companies, we create an adjusted BSC (ABSC) that allow us to consider the critical aspects from a new perspective, named the critical perspective. The conceptual model is developed in three dimensions (conceptual, structural and environmental). Research findings suggest that considering the critical perspective makes it possible to build the ABSC, making this management tool more accessible and useful for businesses. Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:47-81 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66436&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001002 Number: 2 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Thomas Riise Johansen Author-Name: Carsten Allerslev Olsen Author-Name: Thomas Plenborg Title: European Financial Reporting Enforcement: Analysis of Practices and Indices Abstract: This paper analyses how financial reporting enforcement varies across 17 Eu-ropean countries and the extent to which enforcement indices used in the existing accounting literature capture this enforcement. Based on survey responses from European enforcement bodies and regulatory specialists, the study finds extensive variations in financial reporting enforcement across the European countries. Fur-thermore, enforcement indices used in the accounting literature do not appear to capture financial reporting enforcement. These findings should be of interest to ESMA and other enforcement bodies as well as for the use of enforcement indices in accounting research. Classification-JEL: M41, M48 Keywords: Note: Pages:83-123 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66437&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001003 Number: 3 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alessandro Mechelli Author-Name: Vincenzo Sforza Author-Name: Riccardo Cimini Title: Is IFRS 9 better than IAS 39 for investors? decisions? Evidence from the European context at the beginning of the transition year Abstract: The first-time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9 at the beginning of fiscal year 2018 has offered the opportunity to test whether the information provided by this new accounting standard on financial instruments is more useful for investors than International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39. This paper assesses and compares the value relevance of book value calculated ac-cording to the requirements of the two accounting standards on financial instru-ments at the beginning of the transition year for a sample of 110 financial entities listed in 20 stock markets that have recorded transition effects between retained earnings. Findings provide evidence that both IAS 39 and IFRS 9 are value rele-vant and that the second one adds more information than that previously supplied by the first one. The paper contributes to the literature by providing the first evi-dence of the usefulness of the new accounting standard on financial instruments. About its practical implications, the paper provides insights regarding the high quality of the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB)?s standard setting process. Classification-JEL: M40 Keywords: Note: Pages:125-148 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66438&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001004 Number: 4 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Raffaele Fiume Author-Name: Tiziano Onesti Author-Name: Stefano Bianchi Title: Dialogue with standard setters. Potential impacts of the COVID-19 on IFRS financial statements Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted significantly on the movements of goods and people through the world causing interruptions at many levels in the financial and industrial environment with a significant impact on financial reporting. The purpose of the following review is to analyse some of the main accounting implications of the outbreak in the IFRS financial statements and the first responses at international level by the standard-setters. In the first part, the analysis will be focused first on the main implications for periods ended on 31 December 2019 and then on the effects for the 2020 reporting periods onward. As per 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), that began in 2007 with a depreciation in the subprime mortgage market in the United States, the main international standard-setters (IASB and FASB) has proposed amendments of the standards to react to some implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second part of this review will be summarised the main responses, including the documents and proposed amendments issued by the IASB regard-ing IFRS 16 Leases accounting for lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:149-159 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66439&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001005 Number: 5 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alessandro Gaetano Title: Book Review Abstract: Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:161-164 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66440&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001006 Number: 6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: A cura della Redazione Title: Reviewer 2019 Abstract: Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:165-165 Volume: 2020/1 Year: 2020 Issue:1 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=66441&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:Frfrfr:v:html10.3280/FR2020-001007 Number: 7