The Effects of Corporate Governance on Bank Performance

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Whereas banks operate under different management, board of directors, ownership structures, and government regulations, there is no specific optimal corporate governance model that may be applied to all banks. This study investigates the effect of internal corporate governance mechanisms such as board structure, ownership structure, and audit function as well as other variables such as bank size and bank age on bank financial performance. The sample of the study comprises of both conventional and Islamic banks operating in the seven Arabian Peninsula countries, namely Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Regression analysis (OLS) is used to test the aforementioned effect. The results of this study reveal that there is a significant relationship between corporate governance and bank profitability. Board meetings and bank age have positive and significant effects on ROE. Meanwhile, board independence and bank size have negative and significant effects on ROA. In addition, while bank age and board committees have positive effects on Profit Margin, ownership concentration has a negative effect on this profitability measure. These results are consistent with previous studies. However, the literature indicate that the correlation between corporate governance and bank performance is still not clearly established and that impact of corporate governance on bank financial performance in developing countries is still relatively limited.