Bank ownership concentration, board of directors and loan portfolios' quality: evidence from the Tunisian banking sector

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of banks' corporate governance mechanisms in terms of ownership structure, board size and composition on the loan quality in the Tunisian banking sector. To do so we use panel data method and a sample that contains the ten largest banks in Tunisia over the period 2001-2012. Our main findings show that ownership concentration worsens loan quality in the Tunisian banking sector. However, the presence of independent members in the board of directors improves loan quality through better monitoring actions. Our findings also suggest that Tunisian banks with CEO duality manage better their loans.