This paper examines conflict minerals disclosure (CMD) as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. We rely on a thorough content analysis conducted by the Responsible Sourcing Network on a sample of 122 firms that filed CMDs with the SEC in 2015. We document that firms with long-term oriented incentives,...

The countervailing effect of MiFID II’s unbundling provision, which requires brokerages to separate research costs from trading execution costs, on the capital market has led to controversies about its efficacy and its potential rollback. In this paper, we examine the role of firms’...

This international empirical study analyses the relation between board transparency, CEO monitoring policy and financial performance. A unique dataset of, on average, 1211 companies from 25 different countries, as provided by international SiRi analysts over the years 2003-2007, enables us to...

When there is high information asymmetry between directors and managers, independent directors do not have enough information to perform their functions. Only when faced with a good internal information environment can such directors acquire enough information to provide advice and monitor...

We examine institutional investors' trading activity during the period preceding firms' annual disclosures regarding the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) required under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). We find consistent evidence suggesting that...

This article investigates how the stock market reacts to the disclosure of internal control deficiencies under the Japanese Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2006. Given the Japanese official agencies' attempts to minimize negative shocks, we find no stock market reactions on the whole to the disclosure of...

This study investigates (a) why some IPO firms proactively disclose internal control weaknesses (ICWs) and remediation progress in their prospectuses before going public, despite being exempt from the requirements of Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act at the time of IPO, and (b) the...

We document negative stock returns and elevated trading volumes around executives' early option exercise disclosures post-SOX but not pre-SOX. This stock price reaction is incomplete, and the negative stock price drift is smaller post-SOX compared to pre-SOX. We also show effects of media...

This paper examines the direct effect of internal control quality (ICQ) on cost of equity capital and whether the former has a moderating effect on the association between voluntary disclosure and cost of equity capital in an emerging market (Egypt). ICQ is measured using a survey of external...

Sections 302 and 404 of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act require firms to periodically assess and report control deficiencies to the audit committee as well as to the SEC. Section 302 specifically directs company management to identify and report control deficiencies while Section 404 provides...