GOING CONCERN IN IAS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN A SITUATION OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRISIS

This paper aims to understand how listed companies provide disclosure of the aspect of going concern in a situation of financial and economic crisis. The research was carried out through a qualitative analysis on disclosure on going concern of 2009 half-yearly consolidated financial statements of all companies listed in the regulated Italian market and, for those companies that presented critical aspects on going concern, through the same qualitative analysis of disclosure on going concern on 2008 consolidated financial statements and a quantitative analysis on indicators of the "health" of this companies. The analysis conducted showed that only 10% of all listed companies analyzed highlights the presence of significant uncertainties which give rise to doubts about the entity's ability to continue its corporate activities in the foreseeable future. However, none of the surveyed companies said that the uncertainties and doubts are so significant that it is considered unlikely that the company will continue its operative existence for the foreseeable future, even if through the quantitative analysis we find that some of these companies show a negative consolidated equity situation that, symptoms of a corporation strongly in crisis. The study focused on the disclosure proveded by companies in application of IAS 1 on the entity's ability to continue its operative existence in respect of the principle of going concern to find how this disclosure is presented and if there is a correlation with the real "health" of the companies, particularly in times of great crisis like the current one.