Internal Control Quality and Bank Risk-Taking and Performance

Author(s):  
Matthew Baugh ◽  
Matthew Ege ◽  
Christopher G. Yust

Using a sample of bank-years from 2005 to 2017, we examine the effect of internal control quality on future risk-taking and performance. We find that banks that disclose a material weakness in internal controls have higher risk-taking and worse performance in the future, including having a higher (lower) likelihood of experiencing large losses (gains). These findings suggest that weak controls increase (reduce) downside (upside) risk-taking or conversely that strong controls increase (reduce) upside (downside) risk-taking. Path analyses suggest that 22.3 to 43.7 percent of the effect of internal control quality on future performance is through risk-taking. Additionally, material weaknesses are negatively associated with total asset, loan, interest income, and non-interest income growth, suggesting that internal control quality affects both core and non-core activities of banks. Overall, results suggest that strong internal controls improve bank risk-taking, in part through asymmetrically reducing downside risk-taking while facilitating upside risk-taking, ultimately improving bank performance.

Author(s):  
Hanwen Chen ◽  
Ting Li ◽  
Chuancai Zhang

In this study, we explore the inverted U-shaped association between internal control quality and firm operational efficiency. Although effective internal controls can facilitate and improve operational efficiency, excessive internal controls can negatively affect operational efficiency by (1) influencing management energy, attention, risk-taking, and innovation motivations; (2) hindering employees' creativity, enthusiasm, and trust. Our findings support the inverted U-shaped association. We further explore and prove the two channels through which internal controls affect firm operational efficiency: the "information channel" (the quality of internal management reports), and the "application channel" (the enforcement of internal controls). Additionally, we show that the inverted U-shaped association only exists in non-state-owned firms. We do not find significant association between internal control quality and operational efficiency in state-owned firms. Overall, this study suggests that firms should not only establish an optimal level of internal controls, but also enforce the internal controls effectively to achieve their intended goals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Bauer ◽  
Darren Henderson ◽  
Daniel P. Lynch

ABSTRACT Internal controls influence information quality, thus affecting the ability of supply chain partners, who rely on collaborative systems of information sharing, to reliably contract. Using SOX-related internal control assessments as a proxy for internal control quality and U.S. GAAP-mandated major customer disclosures, we find that supplier internal control quality influences supply chain relationship duration. Specifically, our evidence demonstrates that: (1) poor internal control quality increases the likelihood of subsequent customer-supplier relationship termination; (2) timely control weakness remediation attenuates termination likelihood; and (3) weaknesses affecting customer contracting drive the effect of internal control quality on relationship termination. Our results control for supplier operational quality and performance, and are robust to propensity score matching techniques, controls for reverse causality, and alternative proxies for relationship termination and internal control quality. Overall, our findings are consistent with customers viewing strong supplier controls as important, albeit overlooked, contracting elements with significant implications for supply chain relationships.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragon Yongjun Tang ◽  
Feng Tian ◽  
Hong Yan

SYNOPSIS This paper presents the first study on the effects of internal control quality on derivatives pricing. Specifically, we utilize data from the credit default swap (CDS) transactions of well-monitored companies to examine the relationship between the quality of internal control and the cost of debt. CDS data are advantageous for the study of this relationship because CDS contracts are comparatively more homogeneous, standardized, and liquid than either bank loans or public bonds. We find that, all else being equal, companies experiencing internal control material weakness (MW) exhibit higher CDS spreads than companies with effective internal control. Moreover, the MW effect on CDS spreads is more pronounced for company-level MWs than for less severe, account-specific MWs. We also document that CDS spreads increase around the filings of MWs. Furthermore, the deterioration of internal control quality is related to increases in CDS spreads. Finally, short-maturity CDS spreads are more affected by MWs than are long-maturity CDS spreads. JEL Classifications: M41; G32; K22. Data Availability: The data are available from public sources.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Victoria J. Hansen

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of the internal controls over financial reporting requirements (ICFR) on the decision making of corporate tax executives. I examine tax executives' decisions to disclose an internal control deficiency by amending a prior year return when the internal control deficiency will be classified as either a significant deficiency or a material weakness. I also examine if tax executives' decisions are impacted by whether amending results in a refund or additional tax due. I find tax executives are less likely to disclose (amend) when the internal control deficiency is classified as a material weakness. When facing a material weakness, 16.7 percent choose not to disclose. Tax executives are also less likely to disclose (amend) when amending results in additional tax due. These results indicate the ICFR requirements may have unintended consequences. If executives do not disclose internal control deficiencies, the reliability of financial reporting is limited.


2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Ettredge ◽  
Chan Li ◽  
Lili Sun

This study analyzes the impact of internal control quality on audit delay following the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) (SOX). Unlike prior studies of audit delay that obtain information about internal control strength via surveys, or use fairly crude proxies for internal control quality, our study employs external auditor assessments of internal control over financial reporting (ICOFR) that are publicly disclosed in SEC 10-K filings under SOX Section 404. Thus, the empirical evidence provided in this study is both timely and reliable (i.e., not subject to small sample bias or weak proxies). Consistent with our expectation, we find that the presence of material weakness in ICOFR is associated with longer delays. The types of material weakness also matter. Compared to specific material weakness, general material weakness is associated with longer delays. Additional analyses indicate that companies with control problems in personnel, process and procedure, segregation of duties, and closing process experience longer delays. After controlling for other impact factors, this study also documents a significant increase in audit delay associated with the fulfillment of the SOX Section 404 ICOFR assessment requirement. This suggests that Section 404 assessments have made it more difficult for firms to comply with the SEC's desire to shorten 10-K filing deadlines. Our finding thus supports and helps explain the SEC's decisions in 2004 and 2005 to defer scheduled reductions in 10-K filing deadlines (from 75 days to 60 days) for large, accelerated filers.


2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Raghunandan ◽  
Dasaratha V. Rama

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Auditing Standard No. 2 (PCAOB 2004) require management and the auditor to report on internal controls over financial reporting. Section 404 is arguably the most controversial element of SOX, and much of the debate around the costs of implementing section 404 has focused on auditors' fees (Ernst & Young 2005). In this paper, we examine the association between audit fees and internal control disclosures made pursuant to section 404. Our sample includes 660 manufacturing firms that have a December 31, 2004 fiscal year-end and filed the section 404 report by May 15, 2005. We find that the mean (median) audit fees for the firms in our sample for fiscal 2004 is 86 (128) percent higher than the corresponding fees for fiscal 2003. Audit fees for fiscal 2004 are 43 percent higher for clients with a material weakness disclosure compared to clients without such disclosure; however, audit fees for fiscal 2003 are not associated with an internal control material weakness disclosure (in the 10-K filed following fiscal 2004). We also find that the association between audit fees and the presence of a material weakness disclosure does not vary depending on the type of material weakness (systemic or non-systemic).


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 614-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Yiqiang Jin ◽  
Kiridaran Kanagaretnam ◽  
Gerald J. Lobo ◽  
Robert Mathieu

Author(s):  
Muhammad Jawad ◽  
Munazza Naz ◽  
Muhammad Aftab Shamsi

This study investigates the impact of diversification between traditional margin income and nontraditional income (noninterest-based income) on bank risk-taking and bank lending spread for banks operating in Pakistan. Bank risk is measured with the nonperforming loan ratio and bank [Formula: see text]-score. Data of this study is obtained from financial statements, which are an annual publication of State Bank of Pakistan, for the period 2006–2016 for 52 banks in Pakistan. Panel regression with the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator is employed. The study reveals that an increase in noninterest income increases bank risk-taking (spending on highly risky assets), as noninterest income is riskier than interest income. It is also revealed that banks with greater dependence on noninterest income may grant a loan with lower lending spread. These results have implications for the betterment of the banking system, regulatory authority, and stakeholders as well. From a regulatory perspective, the study provides guidelines for making rules and regulations to control and monitor the dependence on noninterest income as well as on interest income. Pakistan banks regulatory authority should focus on the increase in disclosure of the composition of noninterest income and this disclosure would increase understanding of changing environment of banking in Pakistan.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document