Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosures in Annual Reports of Ghanaian Listed Banks

This study investigated the relationship between corporate governance and voluntary disclosures of listed banks in Ghana. The study specifically looked at whether Banks with a larger board size have a higher extent of voluntary disclosures, Again, whether Banks that use the services of a Big 4 audit firm have a higher extent of voluntary disclosures, Also, Banks with larger female directors have a higher extent of voluntary disclosures and lastly whether firms with a higher proportion of non-executive directors on the board have a higher extent of voluntary disclosures. Population of the study was the nine banks listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The study examined eight (8) listed banks on the Ghana Stock Exchange from 2017 to 2021 financial year. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 21.The voluntary disclosure levels were established using a 118-item checklist that included strategic, non-financial, and financial information. The study found a statistically significant positive relationship between Big 4 audit firm and female directorswith voluntary disclosure. However, non-executive directors and board size tend to negatively impact voluntary disclosure. It is recommended that Big 4 audit firm and female directors should be given more attention with regard to voluntary disclosure.