‘Sustainability’ has recently become ubiquitous – so ubiquitous that this movement has led to possible misconceptions and misunderstandings of its very mean meaning, at least in the context that it should be embraced. Of higher concern is the now apparent (mis)appropriation – and hijacking – of the entire concept and field, with the advent of trendy keywords and acronyms such as ‘ESG’ and initiatives such as the creation of the International ‘Sustainability’ Standard Board by the IFRS Foundation. This presentation will delve into these concepts and insights and provide a clearer, broader and a more complete and accurate picture of this space.

Business and society operate within the constraints of our planet and its resources. Organisations need to consider how they affect society and the environment with their operations. In the EU, , Directive n. 95 was issued in 2014 related to specific undertakings the aim of which is to disclose and assess the value of environmental, ethical and social issues. EU citizens expect these organisations to disclose the positive and negative impacts they have on society and the environment, and to prevent, manage and mitigate any negative impacts, including those in their supply chains.

Furthermore in 2015, all United Nations (UN) member states ratified a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to provide a framework for achieving global prosperity within the limits of the planet, tackling inequalities, issues related to poverty and pollution, etc. Indeed, the SDGs include a specific goal (Goal 12.6) to encourage companies to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycles.

Given the relevance of Directive 95 and the SDGs, this presentation aims at supporting the idea that accounting technologies are relevant as they can deliver non-financial information. This occurs when companies report to stakeholders not just about their financial results, but also their environmental and social impact, indicating how they affect society. In addition, accounting technologies are useful as they offer information in terms of firms’ environmental and social (ES) performances.

This talk refers to presenting the SDGs and Directive 95, to then consider the (1) disclosure of social and environmental information enhanced by the Directive and the related (2) firms’ environmental and social (ES) performance. Furthermore, the talk presents the early findings of a study (jointly developed with Prof. De Villiers and Prof. Dumay) in relation to a sample of 358 firms in the European Union (EU) excluding the UK; 195 UK firms, and 470 US firms. The sample period of 2009-2020 allows to observe firms’ ES performance prior to and following the implementation of the Directive. Including firms in the UK and the US helps to analyse ES performance gaps between the “affected group” (i.e. the jurisdictions that are affected by the Directive) and the “unaffected group”.

We study the effect of increasing environmental awareness on shareholders’ activism. Specifically, we examine whether activists channel such growing awareness through more aggressive shareholder proposals. Methodology: We use the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster as an exogenous shock that increased shareholders’ environmental awareness. We adopt a difference-indifference approach and analyze the spill’s effect on the tone of proposals about environmental issues and the tone of proposals about non-environmental topics. Findings: After the disaster, the tone of environmental proposals (i.e., the treatment group) is significantly more negative, while the tone of non-environmental proposals (i.e., the control group) is unaffected. We interpret this finding as direct evidence that the oil spill led to increased shareholder environmental activism through proposals that targeted more aggressively the environmental risks surrounding the business. By contrast, we find no effect of the oil spill on the tone of managers’ responses to the proposals, consistent with managers’ avoiding to emphasize environmental threats. Originality/value: While recent literature and anecdotal evidence suggests a link between environmental disasters and shareholders’ pressure for corporate change, no prior study has investigated the channel through which shareholders could have exerted such pressure, or has looked for direct evidence of it in the negotiations between shareholders and managers. By finding such evidence in shareholder proposals, we fill in this gap.

Securitisation transactions have been identified in the literature among the main reasons for the 2007/2008 financial crisis, alongside with derivative contracts. More than a decade later, the EU legislature has passed a legal framework comprehensively disciplining the area of the securitizations in the EU. On such a background the main purpose of the presentation is to discuss and analyse, in a holistic way, both the “rationale behind” the securitisations as financial transactions, with their main players (e.g. originators, SPVs and credit rating agencies), and their contractual characteristics. The ultimate goal of this legal analysis is to identify and clarify the entire legal process of the securitisations, as a result of the new EU legislation, as well as duties, responsibilities and practices incumbent on the main players. Furthermore, the new challenges that the financial market have to face are the subject matter of the discussion. More precisely, the reference is to the new concept of sustainability and the technological development. In this scenario, there is a blend of financial issue, new environmental challenges and, at the end, the role that the humanity is called to play. Furthermore, the authors also include discussion of the main literature blossomed in the last two decades in the structured finance transactions, particularly that literature that has coined and unveiled, a decade ago, the concept of shadow banking.

Finance management is in high priority to maximise the overall strength of the outsiders of the company, like investors and shareholders, basically profit maximization is the core objective of any business concern in order to distribute the same among the equity shareholders. Financial management is actually mean planning, organising, controlling and directing financial resources of the business concern in the manner of right way to secure the future and overcome the new market challenges as-well, basically it is well-known function of financial manager to allocate and procure the funds of company and this is the only reason behind the success of any business concern but most importantly it needs a deep knowledge of internal and external environment of the business as-well and in this research study I will highlight the importance of financial management with the help of sampling area, the data will be collected through the proper questionnaire and will be distributed among the respondents and statistical tools will be applied for sake of data analysis this study will enriches the Quality of information about the financial management in order to provide the clear understanding about the said subject among the readers.

Internal audit is an independent activity carried out with utmost good faith and integrity to identify the organization's uncertainties. Project management is a systematic process of managing and administrating a project within a pre-defined time frame and cost brackets. Construction projects are exposed to a high degree of risk in terms of their statutes and legal obligations. The project's possible risks can be classified into quantitative and qualitative risks, which have a considerable influence on the execution of the project. Internal audit predominantly depends on the showcase of fair knowledge on project operations, financials, legal and statutory responsibilities. An internal auditor is expected to gain expertise in conducting a critical review of project financials by the International Financial Reporting Standards (FRS). Using his professional ethics, the internal auditor should demonstrate his integrity and honesty and submit a fair and unbiased report on the happenings of the project. Internal auditors shall not be limited to a specific audit area and spread their vigilance in other areas of operations. This presentation aims to evaluate the role of an internal auditor in assisting the board in blowing the whistle in abnormal transactions.

Securitisation transactions have been identified in the literature among the main reasons for the 2007/2008 financial crisis, alongside with derivative contracts. More than a decade later, the EU legislature has passed a legal framework comprehensively disciplining the area of the securitizations in the EU. On such a background the main purpose of the presentation is to discuss and analyse, in a holistic way, both the “rationale behind” the securitisations as financial transactions, with their main players (e.g. originators, SPVs and credit rating agencies), and their contractual characteristics. The ultimate goal of this legal analysis is to identify and clarify the entire legal process of the securitisations, as a result of the new EU legislation, as well as duties, responsibilities and practices incumbent on the main players.

Furthermore, the new challenges that the financial market have to face are the subject matter of the discussion. More precisely, the reference is to the new concept of sustainability and the technological development. In this scenario, there is a blend of financial issue, new environmental challenges and, at the end, the role that the humanity is called to play. Furthermore, the authors also include discussion of the main literature blossomed in the last two decades in the structured finance transactions, particularly that literature that has coined and unveiled, a decade ago, the concept of shadow banking.