Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) launched its report on Transparency in Corporate Reporting (TRAC) for the year 2022, which assesses the top 100 Public Limited Companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange (as per market capitalization on 5th July 2022) on their level of transparency in the disclosure of information. The assessment is being conducted for the third consecutive year. The research methodology adopted, draws on the TRAC Methodology created by the Transparency International’s Secretariat, in Berlin, Germany and has been conducted in several countries by Transparency International National Chapters, such as Brazil, Chile, Russia, Vietnam and Spain.
According to the TRAC Report 2022, companies on average have been found to be partially transparent in corporate reporting, with an average score of 5.42 out of 10, where 0 is the least transparent and 10 is fully transparent. John Keells Holdings and Teejay Lanka rank first, recording the highest overall scores in the assessment. These two were the only companies to obtain the full overall score for transparency in disclosure practices in the 2022 TRAC Assessment. Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company ranks third.
The TRAC assessment scores and ranks companies on several thematic areas crucial to fighting and preventing corruption: reporting on anti-corruption programmes, transparency in company holdings, the disclosure of key financial information in domestic operations and disclosure on gender and non-discrimination policies. Companies were scored and ranked based on publicly available information pertaining to the company. Information was sourced from the latest annual reports (2021 or 2021/22) published by companies, company websites, and other publicly available company documents. Each company’s individual scoresheet can be viewed at www.tisrilanka.org/trac2022.
It is important to note that the TRAC report does not assess the implementation or the effectiveness of companies’ anti-corruption policies and practices. Therefore, a low score does not necessarily mean that a company does not have strong anti-corruption mechanisms, nor does it indicate any wrongdoing on the part of the company. Likewise, while a high score may illustrate strong disclosure systems, it may not necessarily reflect operational integrity.
TISL recently launched the TRAC Report 2022 in Colombo and the top scoring organisations were awarded with certificates and trophies ceremonially to recognize the efforts they have made to be significantly and fully transparent in corporate reporting as per the assessment.
TISL congratulates all top scorers of the TRAC report and urge organizations to protect the dignity of this award by ensuring integrity in their business operations, compliance with codes of conduct, good governance and the best practices by disengaging from all forms of corruption. This report provides detailed recommendations for companies on how to improve their disclosure practices which would lead to better scores in the future. The report also highlights the importance of regulatory change with recommendations to the government on amending the relevant laws and regulations. The TRAC assessment promotes corporate transparency as a mechanism to fight and prevent corruption in the private sector. Transparency is a powerful deterrent to corrupt practices. TISL encourages all companies assessed to reflect on their internal practices and make meaningful change to fight corruption in their day-to-day operations, in their dealings with other companies and with the government.