One of the aims of the obligation to disclose financial statements is to protect shareholders and creditors. The disclosure obligation, alongside the requirement to keep records, has been designated by the legislator as a fundamental management obligation in the context of the liability of the management of a bankrupt legal entity. Non-compliance with the disclosure obligation is also an economic offense. However, Harmsen argues that enforcement in the Netherlands is limited.

The primary – indirect – method of enforcement occurs in case of bankruptcy. Non-timely compliance with the disclosure obligation in the three years preceding bankruptcy leads to the conclusion that there was evidently improper management. In such cases, it is presumed that this was a significant cause of the bankruptcy. There has been strong criticism of these evidentiary presumptions for the disclosure obligation since their introduction. Harmsen argues in her inaugural lecture that it is time to reconsider compliance and enforcement of the disclosure obligation. The role of the auditor, the government, and the bankruptcy trustee is relevant in this context.

Prof. C.M. Harmsen, professor by special appointment of Corporate & Financial Reporting Law: The auditor, the government, the bankruptcy trustee, and their role in disclosure obligations (De accountant, de overheid, de curator en hun rol bij de openbaarmakingsplicht).