Mandatory BRSR Reporting and Its Impact on Earnings Transparency: A Pre- and Post-Regulation Analysis of the Top 15 Indian Listed Banks

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🔬研究者:Provides empirical evidence on the link between ESG disclosure mandates and earnings management in banking.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights potential benefits of BRSR compliance for financial transparency, useful for Indian banks and multinationals.

🏛政策担当者:Offers policy insights on the effectiveness of mandatory ESG reporting in strengthening financial discipline.

The increasing emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) accountability has transformed corporate reporting frameworks across emerging economies. In India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) for the top 1,000 listed entities beginning in FY 2022–23, aiming to enhance transparency, comparability, and responsible corporate conduct. While prior studies suggest that enhanced disclosure regulations may reduce managerial opportunism and information asymmetry (Healy & Wahlen, 1999; Leuz et al., 2003), limited empirical evidence exists on whether mandatory ESG reporting improves financial reporting quality in the Indian banking sector. Given that banks operate under heightened regulatory scrutiny and play a systemic role in economic stability, examining the financial reporting consequences of BRSR adoption becomes particularly significant. This study aims to investigate whether mandatory BRSR reporting has influenced earnings transparency among the top 15 Indian listed banks by market capitalization. Specifically, it evaluates whether the post-regulation period is associated with a reduction in earnings management practices, proxied through discretionary loan loss provisions, which are widely used in banking literature to capture managerial discretion (Beaver & Engel, 1996). The research adopts a quantitative, panel data design covering four financial years (FY 2020–21 to FY 2023–24), divided into pre- and post-BRSR implementation periods. Secondary data will be collected from annual reports, BRSR disclosures, stock exchange filings, and RBI databases. The study employs regression-based estimation techniques to examine changes in discretionary accrual behavior after the regulatory mandate, controlling for firm-specific characteristics such as size, leverage, profitability, and capital adequacy. By linking sustainability regulation with accounting transparency, this research contributes to the emerging discourse on ethical governance and responsible finance in developing economies. The findings are expected to offer policy insights into the effectiveness of ESG mandates in strengthening financial discipline and supporting India’s long-term vision of sustainable and transparent economic growth under the Viksit Bharat 2047 framework.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.62823/jcecs/12.02.8752first seen 2026-08-14 05:30:27