Transparency Index as a Preface to Support Financial Reports Transparency and to Increase Shareholder Protection Level (Published)
Purpose: The study aims to display negative effects on users of financial reports because of the lack of level of financial reports transparency, which makes it imperative to support the level of transparency of financial reports through organizing Voluntary disclosure using a proposed Transparency Index in order to meet the needs of financial reports users from information. The study also deals with trying to determine the nature of relationship between the level of transparency of the financial report and the financial performance and the level of shareholder protection in the Egyptian Exchange.Methodology: To verify the validity of the study hypotheses, the we conducted the Experimental Study through applying it to the Egyptian Exchange Index companies EGX50 after excluding the Financial Institutions through examining the financial statements, the attached Notes, the Board of Directors report, the governance report and the sustainability report for the EGX50 index companies for a period of three years 2016, 2017, 2018.Practical Results: The study sample presented in the forty-one companies listed in the Egyptian Exchange EGX50 index after excluding financial institutions from the index’s companies. The Experimental Study examined the financial statements, the attached Notes, the Board of Directors report, the governance report and the sustainability report for a period of three years 2016, 2017, 2018. After examination it was found that the average level of the Transparency Index in the financial reports for the whole years of study reaches 62.2%, which is a low rate indicating that the EGX50 index’s companies represent low transparency companies. In addition, it was found that the average level of the shareholder protection index in the EGX50 index companies reaches 58%. The foregoing confirms the need to support both the level of transparency and the level of shareholder protection through the application of the proposed Transparency Index. it has been concluded that the Transparency Index has a meaningful impact on both Tobin’s Q (financial performance) (the relationship between them is positive) and also on the stockholders’ protection Index (SPI) (the relationship between them is positive). Authenticity/ Value: The study deals with one of the most important study issues related to measure transparency level of financial reports in the Egyptian Exchange and determines the impact of supporting transparency level on financial performance as well as on supporting protection level of shareholders, The research also extends to suggest transparency index that allows providing most of information needs of users of financial reports according to the aforementioned. In many studies, the importance of research becomes evident In the context of the limited accounting research related to assessing the level of transparency of financial reports at Egyptian Exchange and indicating the positive effects on both the financial performance and the levels of shareholder protection resulting from supporting the level of transparency of financial reports, this is what the authors believe can represent a contribution to the debate about levels of transparency and shareholder protection in the Egyptian Exchange.
Keywords: Financial Performance, Transparency, Voluntary Disclosure, stockholders’ protection., transparency index
Voluntary Information Disclosure in the Annual Reports of Libyan’s Commercial Banks: A Longitudinal Analysis Approach (Published)
This study aims to measure the level of voluntary information disclosure in 54 annual reports of listed and unlisted Libyan’s commercial banks, over a six-year reporting period (2006-2011). It also examines if there has been any significant improvement in the levels of voluntary information disclosure provided in the annual reports, using a longitudinal analysis approach. To measure the voluntary disclosure level, this study develops a scoring sheet comprised of 63 voluntary information items and a dichotomous scoring method was applied. A longitudinal analysis shows that the extent of all five types of information disclosures is low, with an average of 38%, however there was an improvement in the general level of voluntary disclosure and its categories over a six-year period. In addition, it shows that the level of background information is the highest level of voluntary disclosures over the periods of the study and the level of corporate social information is the lowest level of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of the study time periods. This research project is to help develop the existing disclosure literature in relation to the banking sector, which is currently sparse due to the limited empirical research studies on the extent of banking disclosure and its developments.
Keywords: Annual Reports, Commercial Bank, Libya., Voluntary Disclosure