The Company Portal

In June 2010 representatives of around 100 member companies of the Chamber met together to discuss general reforms in the Icelandic business environment. One of the main conclusions was that more transparency was needed and companies should be encouraged to increase the extent of information available. 

It is clear that the image of Icelandic business, both at home and abroad, is closely linked to the general accessibility of business related information. This kind of information is used by investors when assessing business opportunities, the media in their coverage, the general public when forming their opinion, as well as the government in their policy making. It is therefore clear that lack of information can be harmful to the business environment and can lead to communication problems and reduced trust.

Therefore the Iceland Chamber of Commerce decided to introduce the Transparency Portal:

• The portal will be a voluntary platform for companies to make certain information public
• Companies over a certain size are already obligated by law to publish most of the information stored in the portal
• The main purpose of the portal is to increase transparency in the Icelandic business environment in an effort to regain trust and credibility
• The portal is open to any company registered in Iceland, the participating companies director only needs to answer four simple questions to take part
• The portal will be officially published in October each year, although it is possible to update information all year round
• The participating companies will be graded according to their performance with colors: green, yellow and white
• The portal is organized and run by the “Sustainability of Icelandic Business” project group at the ICOC

Key information on the biggest companies
In the coming years as the Portal progresses it will allow access to certain key facts and information on Iceland’s biggest companies. It is also open to any company registered in Iceland, regardless of its size. It is possible to update new information all year around, so companies can make their latest information available online in the portal.

Increased transparency as a supervisory tool
By increasing transparency in Icelandic business environment through making additional information available it is the hope of the Chamber that it will be a step in regaining trust in Icelandic business. The questions answered in the portal are:

• Has the annual report & financial statement been handed in within the official deadline?
• Is the gender ratio within the board and top level management 40/60?
• Has the board agreed on Rules on Working Procedures?
• Is the Corporate Governance statement of the company available online?

Information made accessible
The purpose of the Portal is to be a voluntary platform to make the above mentioned information available. The companies themselves will host the data while the Portal will link over to their respective websites. Registration to the Portal is very simple and accessible and should take less than 15 minutes, given that all information is already available online.

Yearly Transparency Index
On the basis of the information available in the portal, the Chamber will publish a yearly “Transparency Index” based on the participating companies. The Chamber´s intentions are to publish the Index every year to give in insight into the developments of transparency in Icelandic business environment.

The Portal is accessible online at: www.vi.is/fyrirtaekjagattin (still only available in Icelandic)