The effect of timeliness regulation of corporate financial reporting: evidence from banking sector of Bangladesh

The effect of timeliness regulation of corporate financial reporting: evidence from banking sector of Bangladesh

Article Type: AMIS statement and abstracts From: International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, Volume 18, Issue 1

Abstract

Timeliness of annual reports is an important attribute of their usefulness. There is a paucity of research about the timeliness of the published audited accounts of the banking sector companies in developing countries in general and audit delays in particular. This paper empirically examined the relationship between the disclosure score and audit delay in a developing country, Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to establish the impact of selected corporate attributes on audit delays in Bangladesh. In this study, I examine whether timeliness of corporate financial reporting in the banking sector has improved in Bangladesh following the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1993, the enactment of the Companies Act in 1994, the amendment of the SEC Rules in 1997, and the Banking Companies Act, 1991. Using 25 percent of the population (12 banks) observations over a period of five years (2002-2006), I find that regulatory changes have not improved timeliness in corporate reporting in the banking sector of Bangladesh as measured by the extent of audit lag, AGM lag and total lag.

Keywords Timeliness, Bangladesh, Audit lag, AGM lag, Total lag

Alim Al Ayub Ahmed

School of Business, Asian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Corresponding author

Alim Al Ayub Ahmed can be contacted at: billah_aub@yahoo.com