Corporate Governance Disclosure Practices and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian Banks

Abstract

Corporate financial reporting provides the fundamental information to a wide range of policy makers in entire sector of the economy. That may be very useful to the shareholders, management, government, creditors and society at large. It also has a vital input for effective and efficient management and requires attention in practices. More specifically, transparent disclosures of operations lead to a dynamic and competing financial institutional environment. This study examines the corporate governance (CG) disclosure practices of selected Indian Banks by using the financial and non-financial parameters explained in the ‘Guidance on Good Practices in Corporate Governance Disclosure’ issue by the ISAR (International Standards of Accounting and Reporting). Based on the parameters explained in the document, this research analysed the corporate governance disclosure practices followed by Indian Banks in their annual reports for the period of 2007-08 to 2011-12. Based on the parameters, Corporate Governance Disclosure Index (CGDI) is formatted in such a way that it helps in evaluating the corporate governance disclosure practices of each bank. Regression analysis indicates that the CG disclosures are positively associated with financial performance indicators of the banks.