Il test di impairment dell'avviamento negli istituti bancari: indagine empirica sulle banche italiane e britanniche

The present paper has the purpose to investigate the topic of the impairment test of goodwill in the banking sector. Regulatory requirements, differences in valuation models, high shares of goodwill amounts on total assets are all reasons why this subject presents several peculiarities in this specific sector. The paper reviews the different academic views on the concept of goodwill and analyzed how its accounting treatment has evolved until the IAS/IFRS framework was enhanced. The research focuses on two countries, Italy and Great Britain, so the specific accounting requirements in both of them are considered, as well as their previous regulations. Finally, an applied analysis of the way listed Italian and British banks carried out the impairment test on goodwill and disclosed relevant information in 2012 is performed and its results are evaluated to try and identify relevant trends, similarities and differences.