Royal family members and financial reporting timeliness: evidence from UAE

• Main Authors: Al-Muzaiqer, Mohammed Ali Hussein, Abdul Hamid, Fatima, Ahmad, Maslina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UNIMAS 2021
• Subjects: HF5387 Business ethics; HF5601 Accounting. Bookkeeping
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/94761/1/94761_Royal%20family%20members%20and%20financial%20reporting.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/94761/; https://publisher.unimas.my/ojs/index.php/URAF/article/view/2989

This study aims to examine the relationship between Royal family members on the board of directors and financial reporting timeliness among listed companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE has two markets, namely Abu Dhabi Exchange Security (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The data of the current study were collected from these two markets listed companies for the periods of 2011 to 2018 which resulted in 437 firm- year sample data. The results of this study showed that the existence of royal family members on the board of the UAE listed companies is significantly associated with financial reporting timeliness. This study provides evidence on the role played by the elite groups (Royal Family members) in UAE in enhancing the role of the board of directors. The findings also reported that board independence, audit committee size, audit committee expert, and firm profitability are significantly associated with financial reporting timeliness. The findings of this study contribute to the existing theory and empirical evidence of how the existence of Royal family members on the board of directors adds values to the company and improves its financial reporting quality.