EFFECT OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE ON VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF LISTED FINANCIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

ublished annual reports are required to provide various Stakeholders with timely and reliable information useful for making prudent, effective and efficient decisions. The nexus between ownership structure and voluntary disclosure within these published reports vary from company to company and also from country to country. This study examined the effect of Ownership Structure on Voluntary Disclosure of listed financial firms in Nigeria for the period of 10 years from 2008-2017. The study adopted ex-post facto research design, and a sample of 44 out of 57 financial firms listed on the floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31st December, 2017 was selected using purposive sampling technique. Secondary data was collected from Annual Reports and Accounts of the sampled firms and the Nigerian Stock Exchange Fact book. The data was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and probit regression analysis using STATA (version 13). The findings revealed that institutional and managerial ownership have an insignificant effect on voluntary disclosure, while block ownership has a positive and significant effect on voluntary disclosure of listed financial firms in Nigeria. The control variables (Size and Age) have a significant effect on voluntary disclosure. Based on the findings, the study recommended that Government and relevant regulatory agencies such as SEC, NSE, CBN, and NDIC should review and increase monitoring on the equity ownership of block shareholders, due to its significant and positive effect on voluntary disclosure, which will lead to increase information to be disclosed voluntarily, more also Directors and Managers of financial institutions in Nigeria should be made by law to own certain minimum percentage of shares due to the fact that an increase in managerial ownership will increase voluntary disclosure as reviewed from the study.