The Extent of Compliance of Corporate Governance Disclosure: Evidence from Indian Banking Companies

Abstract

The study examines the compliance of mandatory corporate governance disclosure of the Indian banking companies. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) made it mandatory for all listed firms to provide a Corporate Governance Report in a separate section in the Annual Report. The paper has empirically identified the level of compliance of the mandatory disclosure in the corporate governance reporting under the suggested list provided by SEBI and also assessed whether the corporate attributes affect the levels of corporate governance disclosure. The study covered all the 38 banks in India that are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). We have identified 46 items of information as mandatory and for inclusion in the disclosure index, and run a linear regression model to examine the relationship between disclosure index and various corporate attributes. The findings revealed that a high level of compliance existed in the Indian banks and that the variables of size, ownership, board composition, and profitability, have significant impact in the corporate governance disclosure.