Corporate governance compliance practices of listed companies

Abstract

This study explores corporate governance (CG) compliance levels among listed firms in the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). It analyses compliance levels with the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) six best practices guidelines principles (SEC, 2010). The purpose is to present an overview of the compliance level of each principle by the listed firms for future research. The data were obtained from the firm’s annual reports, GSE, and SEC websites, and analysed using descriptive statistics. A self-constructed Corporate Governance Compliance Index (CGCI) was developed to represent Ghana’s CG practices, and listed firms were ranked using the CGCI. A sample of 33 audited firms listed on the GSE from 2009 to 2020 was used for the empirical analysis. The findings revealed that the listed firms had embraced overall CG initiatives, with the compliance level increasing after an introduction from 60.95 percent (2010) to 68.69 percent (2020), echoing the findings of Owusu and Weir (2016). Moreover, a structural shift caused the SEC’s (2010) principles of financial affairs and audits to record the highest compliance level, while the board committee recorded the lowest. This study offers a useful contribution to the extant literature by providing new evidence on compliance practice in the context of Ghanaian-listed firms on the GSE.