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The authors examine the determinants of ESG disclosure and differentiate between voluntary and mandatory disclosure regimes in Hong Kong.

The authors analyse both Bloomberg ESG scores and a disclosure index score, manually constructed according to the 2019 Hong Kong Exchange ESG Guide using regression tests.

The results indicate that the level of concentrated ownership is negatively associated with the quantity of ESG disclosure only in the voluntary disclosure period, suggesting that agency problems are alleviated when ESG reporting is mandatory. The findings also show that larger firms significantly disclose higher levels of ESG information in both voluntary and mandatory disclosure periods. Furthermore, the extent of ESG disclosure significantly increases when firms' sustainability reports are audited by Big 4 accounting firms only in the voluntary disclosure period. Finally, the control variables are significantly related to the level of ESG disclosure showing that ESG disclosure increased over time and is significantly different among industries.

The authors make contributions to the literature on non-financial disclosure in relation to ESG reporting by examining the relationship between firm characteristics and ESG disclosure in the Hong Kong context under both voluntary and mandatory disclosure regimes. This study also provides important implications for other stock markets and relevant stakeholders including preparers, users and the sustainability profession.

The aim of this paper has twofold: (1) to explain and compare the financial evolution of Islamic and conventional banking sector in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to explore the key success factors that might affect Islamic and conventional banks performance before and mainly during COVID-19 pandemic period.

Orbis Bank Focus database and annual financial reports are used to collect financial information of Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries over four years: 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Descriptive statistics, T-test, multiple regression, and 2SLS and GMM models are employed to analyze the financial structure and performance of Islamic and conventional banks before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Results of this study reveal that (1) there is a significant difference between Islamic banks and conventional banks during the crisis of COVID-19, where the conventional banks have presented a higher level of financial performance and financial liquidity than their Islamic counterparts, (2) conventional banks have revealed higher capacity to manage their financial risk during the crisis period, and (3) a high level of non-performing loan, high inflation rate and high percentage of non-important cost have a negative impact on the financial performance of Islamic banks mainly during the pandemic period of COVID-19. However, the result indicates that a high level of liquidity risk increased the performance of Islamic banks but this impact falls sharply during the pandemic period.

This study provides information that supports investors, regulators and executive managers in GCC countries. A well-structured balance sheet would improve the financial performance and risk management of the banking sector in GCC countries, especially in times of crisis and pandemics.