Browsing by Author "Karim, A K M Waresul"

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Open Access
Determinants of IAS Disclosure Compliance in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Exchangelisted Companies in Bangladesh
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2005) Ahmed, Jamal Uddin; Karim, A K M Waresul
The study is an attempt to examine empirically the level of disclosure of financial information upon adoption of International Accounting Standards (IASs) in Bangladesh and the association between a number of corporate attributes and levels of disclosure in corporate annual reports in Bangladesh. An unweighted disclosure index comprising 411 items was prepared and applied to 188 corporate annual reports for years ending between January and December 2003. The association between the extent of disclosure and various corporate characteristics was examined using multiple linear regression models. It was found that corporate size, profitability, stock exchange security category (Zcategory or not), size and international link of company's auditor, and multinational subsidiary are all significantly associated with the extent of disclosure. The results were consistent with some previous studies while they contradict with the findings of some other studies.
Open Access
Does Regulatory Change Improve Financial Reporting Timeliness? Evidence from Bangladeshi Listed Companies
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2005) Ahmed, Jamal Uddin; Karim, A K M Waresul
The present study is an attempt to empirically test a research question: whether regulatory change can improve financial reporting timeliness in developing countries. Financial reporting delays in Bangladesh have historically been long. In some cases companies are found to publish results of as many as five financial years at a time. Even in 2003, company audits in many cases can be found to take longer than eighteen months. Long audit delay is one of the main causes behind chronic delay observed in issuing financial statements to shareholders. In a significant move to reduce such delays, the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the year 2000, imposed a mandatory maximum of 120 days to complete audits of listed companies. This provides an interesting setting to examine the research question set out at the beginning. The paper reports the results of multiple linear regressions to test the possible association between financial reporting timeliness and regulatory change while controlling for relevant corporate and auditor attributes. Two levels of analyses were carried out. First, using observations from 1999 and 2001, and then using the observations from 1999 and 2003. The results show that audit delays could be reduced by effective regulatory change. Subsidiaries of MNCs demonstrate significantly shorter delay while companies who do not pay dividends show significantly longer delays. Company size, audit complexity, return on equity, and audit fees (except for one model) do not appear to have any bearing on audit delay.
Open Access
Regulatory Change and the Quality of Compliance to Mandatory Disclosure Requirements: Evidence from Bangladesh
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2005) Hasan, Tanweer; Karim, A K M Waresul
The present study investigates the effectiveness of changes in the regulatory environment on the quality of compliance to mandatory disclosure requirements in Bangladesh. Statistical analysis of the Mandatory Disclosure Index, as developed in this paper using annual reports of the exchange listed firms before and after the changes in the regulatory environment, shows a significant improvement in the quality of compliance during the more regulated time period. The size of the firm, the qualification of its accounting staff that prepares financial statements and the reputation of its auditing firm have significant positive impact on the quality of compliance. The analysis presented in the study point to two additional important findings: lack of profitability of the firm does not seem to affect the quality of its compliance, and the performance of domestic firms are at par with foreign affiliated firms as far as the quality of the compliance is concerned. The findings reported in the present study lend support to the conventional notion that well packaged and timed regulations can foster sustainable development in the overall reporting environment of a country.