The role of accounting in corporate governance of banks in a developing country: evidence from Sri Lanka

The purpose of this study is to examine how accounting could contribute to the corporate governance of banks in a developing country. Accounting and corporate governance failures of banks have figured prominently in discussions of the possible causes leading to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the recent global financial crisis. These discussions suggest that accounting has failed to play its potential role in corporate governance of the failed organizations. -- To achieve the above purpose, this study has the following five objectives: (a) to conduct a comprehensive literature review in order to explore the ways in which accounting could facilitate corporate governance of banks; (b) to analyse the actual role that accounting plays in the corporate governance of banks; (c) to explain the contextual relativity of the role of accounting in corporate governance of banks; (d) to examine the differences in the role of accounting in the corporate governance of public and private sector banks; and (e) to make recommendations for enhancing the role of accounting in corporate governance in the banking industry. -- Following the qualitative research approach, this study adopts the case study research method to achieve the aim of the study. Two major banks in Sri Lanka were selected as the case organizations representing the public and the private sectors. Data collection and analysis were guided by the analytical framework developed in this study. Data were gathered primarily by semi-structured interviews and also by documentary evidence. Data analysis was undertaken using three interactive processes, namely data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. -- The findings of the study suggest that although accounting has a potential role in the corporate governance of banks, in reality that role is influenced to a large extent by various contextual factors, such as the level of effectiveness of the enforcement mechanisms for laws and regulations, and, in the case of public sector bank in particular, the multiple roles played by the government and political interference. Further, this study finds a number of differences between the roles played by accounting in corporate governance in the public and the private sector banks.