AUDIT COMMITTEE ATTRIBUTE AND FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY OF LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

The objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of audit committee attributes on financial reporting quality in the deposit money banks in Nigeria. Specifically, it aimed at finding out the impact of Audit Committee Independence (AUIND), Audit Committee Financial Expertise (ACFEXP) and Audit Committee Size (AUCSIZE) on financial reporting quality (FRQ) in the Nigerian deposit money banks. The study employed an ex post facto research design because the data for the study was extracted from archived of past events. The study was restricted to deposit money banks in Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 14 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31st December, 2024. The study covered a period of 10 years from 2014 – 2023, forming an observation of 140 firm-year observation. Data Audit Committee Independence (AUIND), Audit Committee Financial Expertise (ACFEXP) and Audit Committee Size (AUCSIZE) and financial reporting quality (FRQ) were obtained from secondary sources (annual reports and accounts) and subjected to the regression analysis using the pooled OLS. The result shows that all independent variables [Audit Committee Independence (AUIND), Audit Committee Financial Expertise (ACFEXP) and Audit Committee Size (AUCSIZE)] have a positive and significant relationship with financial reporting quality. The study recommended that Employing qualitative research methods to understand the perceptions and motivations of companies regarding financial reporting adoption, especially given its mandatory requirement in Nigeria and also analyzing financial reporting quality in other geographical contexts or different types of companies (e.g., private companies, specific industries).