Purpose: This paper explores the factors that affected the voluntary risk-related disclosures in the individual annual reports for 2006 of Portuguese banks. We also explore the extent to which in those reports conformed to Basel II requirements in terms of the voluntary disclosure of operational risk and capital structure and adequacy matters.Design/methodology/approach: We conduct a content analysis of the annual reports of a sample of 111 banks. Voluntary operational risk and capital structure and adequacy disclosures were assessed using a list of disclosure categories that were developed from the Third Pillar disclosure requirements of the Basel II Accord. Originality/values: The voluntary risk-related disclosures observed are shown to be explained by legitimacy theory and resources-based perspectives. This theoretical framework has not been tested hitherto in explaining the motives for banks to make voluntary RRD.

Some theories, as agency theory or signalling theory raised the problem related with the information asymmetry between the shareholders and the managers. One way of reducing this asymmetry is to pressure the companies to disclose more risk-related information. In our research we try to determine the risk reporting practices among Portuguese non-financial companies. For this purpose a content analysis of 81 individual and consolidated annual reports, from the year 2005, of Portuguese companies listed on the Eurolist Lisbon stock exchange market, and on the un-regulated market and not listed companies was made. We concluded that managers, at the time of reporting information about risk, adopt strategies of "impression management" consistent with the attribution theory. We also conclude that almost all of the information disclosed was generic, qualitative and backward-looking, expressing a gap between the risk reporting practices and the usefulness of this kind of information.Therefore, this study is relevant for risk disclosure regulation.

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Purpose-The paper seeks to assess the risk reporting practices across two European Latin countries (Portugal and Spain). Moreover, drawn on elements of agency, legitimacy, resources-based perspectives, and institutional theory this study also intends to assess if the influence of corporate governance mechanisms on risk reporting is mediated by strategic/institutional legitimacy interests. Design/methodology/approach-From a sample of 60 non-finance Portuguese and Spanish companies with securities traded on the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange market and on the Madrid stock exchange market, respectively, at December, 2011, the Corporate Governance reports and the "risk/risk management" sections of the Management reports included on consolidated annual reports for 2011 were manually content analyzed, according to prior literature. Further, multiple linear regressions were used to assess the potential relationships between corporate governance mechanisms and risk reporting. Findings-Results indicate that visible companies, operating in a country with a weaker legal environment, and during periods of financial distress disclose more discretionary RRD, basically to contextualize their negative outcomes. Some corporate governance mechanisms were crucial to improve risk information. Originality-The paper goes beyond prior literature work and assesses if the theoretical framework grounded on agency, legitimacy, resources-based perspective, and institutional theory is suitable in explaining RRD in an under-researched setting (European Latin countries, such as Portugal and Spain with low agency costs and different corporate governance models). Moreover, the analysis embraces a wider and homogeneous range of internal and external corporate governance mechanisms and uses a period in which both countries were severely affected by a sovereign debt crisis with negative impacts on company's liquidity and financial risks. A research setting like this has not been studied hitherto.