CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND THE TIMELINESS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING: AN EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDY OF RUSSIAN BANKS

Robert W. McGee, Florida International University
Yeomin Yoon, Seton Hall University
Thomas Tarangelo, Florida International University

Abstract

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has established some benchmarks for various aspects of corporate governance. One benchmark involves the timeliness of financial reporting, a topic that has also been addressed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and other organizations. The crux of the issue is that corporations should issue their financial reports in a timely manner so that stakeholders will have access to information before it becomes outdated. Empirical Legal Studies is a relatively new but growing branch of legal scholarship. The present empirical legal study examines the timeliness of financial reporting in the Russian banking sector and compares it to the SEC benchmark.