PERFORMANCE OF LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA: DOES CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MATTERS?

This paper is an empirical analysis of the influence of corporate governance on the performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria for the period of2008-2012. The listed deposit money banks are seventeen (17) in number out of which a sample of ten (10) used for the study. Specifically, the study seeks to find if corporate governance codes (proxy by board size, board composition and audit committee size) has any influence on performance. The study adopted multiple regression technique and data were collected from secondaty source through the annual reports and accounts of the firms. The findings reveal that board composition is positively, strongly and significantly influencing the performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, while the board size has a negative impact on performance, audit committee size was found to have insignificant contribution to banks performance. It is, however, recommended that the listed deposit money banks should increase the number of outside directors on board to an average of 55% to 60% as the higher numbers may help in watching over the excess of the executive directors. Also the number of board members should be reduced to an average of fourteen (14) members as this may help improve the banks’ performance.