With the increasing complexity of banking operations, the demand for extensive disclosure has advanced over the years. In 2007, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has consolidated and expanded disclosure requirements related to financial instruments in IFRS7. Arguably, the adoption of IFRS7 in Europe was met with substantial differences in implementation among countries. Moreover, IFRS7 was launched a few months before the global financial crisis hit Europe. This study examines the level of disclosure according to IFRS7 of 12 banks spread across Europe using their annual accounts from 2007-2010. The banks were chosen on the basis of their market capitalization by the end of 2007. A disclosure index based on IFRS7 was created for this study to evaluate the level of disclosure of the banks. After examining the disclosure level, this paper analyzes if there is a correlation between compliance on disclosure index and bank performance as measured by the Total Shareholder Return. This study aims to find out if a high compliance significantly affects performance in terms of TSR and if it helped banks weather the global financial crisis. The background part provides a broad perspective on disclosure, financial reporting, accounting standards, and IFRS7. It also provides a situation on bank run, and on the recent financial crisis. With the use of secondary data from published accounts of banks, the empirical study presents the disclosure level of banks and TSR performance. The findings suggest that most banks have a selective compliance and moderate fulfillmenton disclosure obligations. Inadequacy is particularly seen in areas where additional disclosure is required by using the implementation guidance of IFRS7. The correlation between compliance and performance is seen to be very minimal which suggests that a high disclosure during a financial crisis does not help prevent huge financial losses.

Bakgrund: Krav på ökad information och transparens i årsredovisningar har varit ett debatterat ämne de senaste åren. International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) har uppmärksammats med anledning av de ökad krav på upplysningar som standarden ställer däribland genom reglerna i IFRS 7 Finansiella Instrument: Upplysningar. Användandet av IFRS 7 blev lag år 2007 och gäller vid upprättande av en koncernredovisning. Kraven i IFRS 7 syftar till att visa företags hantering av finansiella instrument och därmed öka redovisningens transparens. Med anledning av de ökade krav som ställs på företag vill denna studie se hur noterade bolag har anpassat och förändrat sin redovisning enligt standarden.    Syfte: Studiens syfte är att analysera bolag noterade på OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm Large Cap och deras redovisning enligt IFRS 7 för att se om någon förändring skett i mängden upplysningar som lämnats i årsredovisningar för år 2010 jämfört med år 2007. Metod: Den kvantitativa metoden har använts för att genomföra undersökningen. Den positivistiska inriktningen har varit i fokus då antaganden som gjorts på förhand blivit erkända eller förkastade genom en objektiv granskning av de kvantitativa data som samlats in. I undersökningen ingår 37 bolag och totalt har 74 årsredovisningar granskats. Följande punkter valdes ut och undersöktes sedan i de aktuella årsredovisningarna: Punkt 8 Rapport över finansiell ställning, Punkt 20 Rapport över totalresultat, Punkt 33 Kvalitativa upplysningar, Punkt 36-37 Kreditrisk, Punkt 39 Likviditetsrisk och Punkt 40-42 Marknadsrisk. Materialet som samlats in har förts in i kodningstabeller skapade i SPSS för att sedan analyseras. Slutsats: Det har sedan införandet av IFRS 7 år 2007 skett en förändring i redovisningen enligt de undersökta punkterna. Mängden ord som redovisas i samband med de undersökta punkterna har i årsredovisningarna för år 2010 ökat jämfört med mängden ord som redovisades år 2007. En ökning har också skett med avseende på antalet punkter som följs fullt ut. Flera av bolagen har också gjort någon typ av ändring beträffande placering, framställning, rubrik, borttagning eller tillägg av information vid redovisning enligt IFRS 7 år 2010. / Background: Requirements for increased information and transparency in annual reports has in recent years been a debated topic. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been a discussed standard in response to the amount of disclosure requirements it contains. IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures is one standard included in IFRS which since year 2007 requires listed companies to report their management of financial instruments and thereby increase the transparency. IFRS 7 was standardized in the year 2007 for companies that prepare consolidated financial statements. Due to the increased demands placed on listed companies this study wants to see how the companies have adapted and changed their accounting in accordance with the standard. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze public companies listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm Large Cap and their accounting in accordance with IFRS 7 in order to see if any changes are made in the amount of information provided in the financial statements for the year 2010 compared to 2007. Methodology: The quantitative method has been used to conduct this study and the positivistic objective has been in focus. The study sample included 37 companies and a total of 74 annual reports. The following parts were selected from IFRS 7 and examined in the annual reports: Paragraph 8 Balance sheet, Paragraph 20 Income statement and equity, Paragraph 33 Qualitative disclosures, Paragraph 36-37 Credit risk, Paragraph 39 Liquidity risk and Paragraph 40-42 Market risk. The information collected from the annual reports have been put in to a coding system created in SPSS and then analyzed.       Conclusion: Since the standardization of IFRS 7 in year 2007 there has been a change in the way listed companies account in accordance with the examined parts. The amount of words related to the examined parts in the annual reports of year 2010 has increased compared to the amount of words disclosed in year 2007. The study also shows that more of the examined parts are accounted for. Several of the investigated companies have also made changes regarding the placement and the presentation of the information. Change of headline and removal of information also occurred. Additionally some companies added new information