IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v61y2021is1p1425-1456.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of the company secretary in facilitating board effectiveness: reporting and compliance

Author

Listed:
  • John Nowland
  • Larelle Chapple
  • Joseph Johnston

Abstract

This study investigates how company secretaries (CS) influence board practices and financial reporting. All public companies have a secretary and this position may be combined with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or legal counsel. Examining the period 2004–2015, we find that joint CS/CFOs hold more audit committee meetings, are associated with less earnings management and a greater likelihood of a clean audit opinion. Companies with joint CS/legal counsels are more timely filers and company secretaries of multiple companies schedule fewer committee meetings. These results indicate that company secretaries significantly influence board practices and financial reporting, depending on their role and busyness.

Suggested Citation

  • John Nowland & Larelle Chapple & Joseph Johnston, 2021. "The role of the company secretary in facilitating board effectiveness: reporting and compliance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1425-1456, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:61:y:2021:i:s1:p:1425-1456
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12632
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12632
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12632?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    2. Bin Srinidhi & Ferdinand A. Gul & Judy Tsui, 2011. "Female Directors and Earnings Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1610-1644, December.
    3. Jiraporn, Pornsit & Davidson III, Wallace N. & DaDalt, Peter & Ning, Yixi, 2009. "Too busy to show up? An analysis of directors' absences," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 1159-1171, August.
    4. Philip Stiles, 2001. "The Impact of the Board on Strategy: An Empirical Examination," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 627-650, July.
    5. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    6. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    7. Husam Aldamen & Keith Duncan & Simone Kelly & Ray McNamara & Stephan Nagel, 2012. "Audit committee characteristics and firm performance during the global financial crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(4), pages 971-1000, December.
    8. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1285-1318, September.
    9. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    10. Fernández Méndez, Carlos & Pathan, Shams & Arrondo García, Rubén, 2015. "Monitoring capabilities of busy and overlap directors: Evidence from Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 444-469.
    11. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2017. "The diversity of expertise on corporate boards in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 429-463, June.
    12. Lu Xing & Tinghua Duan & Wenxuan Hou, 2019. "Do Board Secretaries Influence Management Earnings Forecasts?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 537-574, January.
    13. Ira C. Harris & Katsuhiko Shimizu, 2004. "Too Busy To Serve? An Examination of the Influence of Overboarded Directors," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 775-798, July.
    14. Maria Strydom & Hue Hwa Au Yong & Michaela Rankin, 2017. "A few good (wo)men? Gender diversity on Australian boards," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(3), pages 404-427, August.
    15. Diane Mayorga, 2013. "Managing continuous disclosure: Australian evidence," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(7), pages 1135-1169, September.
    16. Larelle Chapple & Jacquelyn Humphrey, 2014. "Does Board Gender Diversity Have a Financial Impact? Evidence Using Stock Portfolio Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 709-723, July.
    17. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2013. "Is prior director experience valuable?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(3), pages 643-666, September.
    18. Duong, Lien & Evans, John, 2016. "Gender differences in compensation and earnings management: Evidence from Australian CFOs," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 17-35.
    19. Brick, Ivan E. & Chidambaran, N.K., 2010. "Board meetings, committee structure, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 533-553, September.
    20. Geoffrey C. Kiel & Gavin J. Nicholson, 2006. "Multiple Directorships and Corporate Performance in Australian Listed Companies," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(6), pages 530-546, November.
    21. Justin J. Hopkins & Edward L. Maydew & Mohan Venkatachalam, 2015. "Corporate General Counsel and Financial Reporting Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 129-145, January.
    22. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Company Performance in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(4), pages 372-386, December.
    23. (Xuefeng) Jiang, John & Petroni, Kathy R. & Yanyan Wang, Isabel, 2010. "CFOs and CEOs: Who have the most influence on earnings management?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 513-526, June.
    24. Jinghui Sun & Pamela Kent & Baolei Qi & Jiwei Wang, 2019. "Chief financial officer demographic characteristics and fraudulent financial reporting in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(4), pages 2705-2734, December.
    25. Hyun Ah Kim & Seok Woo Jeong & Tony Kang & Dongyoung Lee, 2017. "Does the Presence of Female Executives Curb Earnings Management? Evidence from Korea," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 27(4), pages 494-506, December.
    26. Philip Brown & Wendy Beekes & Peter Verhoeven, 2011. "Corporate governance, accounting and finance: A review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(1), pages 96-172, March.
    27. Julie Cotter & Mark Silvester, 2003. "Board and Monitoring Committee Independence," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 39(2), pages 211-232, June.
    28. Maria C. A. Balatbat & Stephen L. Taylor & Terry S. Walter, 2004. "Corporate governance, insider ownership and operating performance of Australian initial public offerings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 44(3), pages 299-328, November.
    29. Mark L. Defond & Rebecca N. Hann & Xuesong Hu, 2005. "Does the Market Value Financial Expertise on Audit Committees of Boards of Directors?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, May.
    30. Field, Laura & Lowry, Michelle & Mkrtchyan, Anahit, 2013. "Are busy boards detrimental?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 63-82.
    31. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1285-1318, September.
    32. repec:eme:arjpps:v:22:y:2009:i:2:p:196-212 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Alaa Mansour Zalata & Collins Ntim & Ahmed Aboud & Ernest Gyapong, 2019. "Female CEOs and Core Earnings Quality: New Evidence on the Ethics Versus Risk-Aversion Puzzle," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 515-534, December.
    34. Mohammad Ziaul Hoque & MD. Rabiul Islam & Mohammad Nurul Azam, 2013. "Board Committee Meetings and Firm Financial Performance: An Investigation of Australian Companies," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 13(4), pages 503-528, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Nowland & Andreas Simon, 2018. "Is poor director attendance contagious?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 42-64, February.
    2. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2017. "The diversity of expertise on corporate boards in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 429-463, June.
    3. Le, Quyen & Vafaei, Alireza & Ahmed, Kamran & Kutubi, Shawgat, 2022. "Independent directors' reputation incentives and firm performance – an Australian perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Stephen Gray & Iman Harymawan & John Nowland, 2016. "Political and government connections on corporate boards in Australia: Good for business?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(1), pages 3-26, February.
    5. Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan & Solomon Opare & Zahir Ahmed, 2024. "Does Audit Committee Busyness Affect Financial Restatement? Evidence from Audit Committee Share Ownership," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 34(1), pages 29-54, March.
    6. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2013. "Is prior director experience valuable?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(3), pages 643-666, September.
    7. Gull, Ammar Ali & Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid, 2018. "Beyond gender diversity: How specific attributes of female directors affect earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 255-274.
    8. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Abdelfattah, Tarek, 2021. "Non-executive female directors and earnings management using classification shifting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 301-315.
    9. Harakeh, Mostafa & Leventis, Stergios & El Masri, Tarek & Tsileponis, Nikolaos, 2023. "The moderating role of board gender diversity on the relationship between firm opacity and stock returns," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    10. Belaounia, Samia & Tao, Ran & Zhao, Hong, 2020. "Gender equality's impact on female directors’ efficacy: A multi-country study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    11. Alaa Mansour Zalata & Collins Ntim & Ahmed Aboud & Ernest Gyapong, 2019. "Female CEOs and Core Earnings Quality: New Evidence on the Ethics Versus Risk-Aversion Puzzle," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 515-534, December.
    12. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. repec:eme:arjpps:arj-09-2017-0149 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Ferris, Stephen P. & Jayaraman, Narayanan & Liao, Min-Yu (Stella), 2020. "Better directors or distracted directors? An international analysis of busy boards," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    15. Hidaya Lawati & Khaled Hussainey & Roza Sagitova, 2021. "Disclosure quality vis-à-vis disclosure quantity: Does audit committee matter in Omani financial institutions?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 557-594, August.
    16. Li, Yiwei & Zeng, Yeqin, 2019. "The impact of top executive gender on asset prices: Evidence from stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 528-550.
    17. Bradley Benson & Travis Davidson & Hui James & Hongxia Wang, 2022. "Board busyness and corporate payout: are all busy directors the same?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3711-3759, September.
    18. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    19. Xu, Xixiong & Li, Wanli & Li, Yaoqin & Liu, Xing, 2019. "Female CFOs and corporate cash holdings: Precautionary motive or agency motive?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 434-454.
    20. Jin-hui Luo & Zeyue Huang & Xue Li & Xiaojing Lin, 2018. "Are Women CEOs Valuable in Terms of Bank Loan Costs? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 337-355, December.
    21. Dai, Yunhao & Chao, Yang & Wang, Li, 2021. "The brain gain of CFOs in China: The case of analyst forecasts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:61:y:2021:i:s1:p:1425-1456. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.