A study on the principles of corporate governance with special to reference to the code of best practices issued by sec ghana

In 2010, Ghana, a member State of 16 countries in the west coast of Africa, in recognition of the significant role of good corporate governance, formulated an encyclopedic guidelines for effective corporate governance practices in the country. The guidelines were promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Ghana in order to secure greater transparency and to promote best practices in corporate governance. This study aims at providing insight into the five broad areas in regards to the SEC governance principles namely, rights of shareholders, equitable treatment of shareholders, the role of stakeholders, disclosure & transparency, and the responsibilities of the board. The paper also attempts to find out the extent to which Ghanaian banking corporates are responding to the SEC code of best corporate practices. The study used quantitative research methodology relying on secondary data and survey responses from 20 sampled banks including those unlisted and listed at the Ghana Stock Exchange. Using regression and correlation analysis, the results of the study showed a healthy relationship between the corporate governance variables and the SEC governance guidelines and that good governance is an imperative element in explaining the performance of commercial banks in Ghana.