Impact of regulatory reforms on compliance with mandatory disclosures by savings and credit co-operatives in Kenya

This paper aims to utilize institutional theory to examine the impact of the 2008-2010 regulatory reforms on compliance with mandatory disclosures by savings and credit co-operatives (SACCOs) in Kenya.

Two-stage least squares panel regression approach is utilized to analyse data covering 1,272 firm-year observations for 212 SACCOs over a six-year period, 2008-2013. An analysis of the pre- and post-regulation impacts on compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements is also performed.

The results, which are in support of the institutional theory, reveal that licensed SACCOs engage in higher compliance with mandatory disclosures, and this improves from the pre- to the post-regulation period. The results show that SACCOs under inquiry engage in lower compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements, especially in the post-regulation period. The findings also reveal a significant and positive association between SACCO size, co-operative governance and compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements.

The study focuses on transition-level SACCOs in a single country. An extension into other jurisdictions with nascent, transitional and mature SACCOs would provide greater insights into the impact of disclosure regulation. Further, the study uses a self-constructed disclosure checklist which is subject to coding errors and biases.

The findings highlight the need for SACCO regulators and accounting professional body to devise incentives to improve the level of compliance with required disclosures.

The study contributes to the dearth of evidence on the efficacy of the introduction of mandatory disclosure requirements in a developing country where compliance is problematic because of difficulties with enforcement.