The impact of IFRS and Corporate Governance practices adopted by Greek banks on their reporting quality during crisis

Abstract

The financial system consists without doubt one of the most important determinants of the world national economies. The banking sector within any economy is the major source for economic growth and trustee of financial stability, it goes at the very heart of the financial system and its influence in national economies is pivotal, because available funds are filtered through it to the economy for investment purposes. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the extent to which the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accompanied by Corporate Governance practices have affected the quality of financial and narrative reporting produced by Greek banks for the period from 2008 to 2011. Using a sample of 14 commercial Greek banks, we investigate their repots and performance for a period that includes not only the burst of global financial crisis, but also the start of the Greek sovereign debt crisis. 

Keywords: International Financial Reporting Standards, Corporate Governance, Reporting Quality, Banking, Crisis.