Banking Reforms: The Nigerian Corporate Governance Perspective and New Challenges

Abstract

Banking and corporate governance reform is an ongoing phenomenon which has received intense global attention after the 2008 global financial crisis. This is particularly true of Nigeria where banks constitute a dominant position of the financial sector. It has compelled many financial and non-financial regulators in Nigeria such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise the codes of best practices for banks and other public companies overtime with a new single code of corporate governance [the national code of corporate governance] set to be released by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.This paper makes a contribution to the existing literature on the state of corporate governance development in the Nigerian banking and non-banking sector, the impacts of the banking regulations and the efforts put in place at ensuring that banks are well governed. It also addresses the issue of compliance, disclosure and harmonisation of codes in Nigeria. It argues that while standards and codes are being enacted and revised by the CBN, the SEC and now FRCN, there is greater need for the Nigerian internal and external environments (such as the socio-political, economic and cultural systems) to support the reforms. There is also need for better enforcement, a renewed transparency and total compliance to the spirit and letter of the code in Nigeria.