Search

We test the signaling view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement using two complementary quasi-natural experiments that impose exogenous negative pressure on stock prices. Firms under such adverse price pressure increase CSR activities compared to otherwise similar firms. This effect concentrates among firms with stronger signaling incentives, namely, those facing greater information asymmetry, more product market competition, higher shareholder litigation risk, and higher stock price crash risk. Firms under the exogenous negative price pressure mainly improve CSR strengths, including costly environmental investments. We also find that CSR engagement attracts socially responsible investors and lowers the cost of capital for signaling firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the staggered enactment of anti-recharacterization laws as a plausibly exogenous shock to the value of securitizing collateral through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and test how collateral values impact corporate risk management. Following the laws' enactment, we find increases in commodity, foreign exchange, and interest rate hedging, especially for firms with exposure to these risks and that rely on SPVs. Supporting the collateral constraints literature, the effect is weaker for firms that likely need the collateral for external financing, such as financially constrained firms. Our findings highlight fluctuations in collateral values as an important consideration in risk management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the European Union's efforts to harmonise the insolvency laws of its Member States. In particular, it explains the Directive on restructuring and insolvency, its key features and disparities and its transformation in national laws. Further, the European Commission's proposal for a Directive on harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversation about how artificial intelligence (AI) might affect various areas of law (and other areas of life) has, in recent months, centred around ChatGPT which is just one application of AI. This article takes a broader view and assesses how AI, and technology more broadly, has begun to transform, and will continue to transform corporate insolvency law. While the pandemic has increased the adoption of technology in corporate insolvency processes, there is scope for further transformation. This article aims to survey the technological changes to corporate insolvency law and practice thus far and assess, based on current advances in technology, the potential for further transformation. It advances the argument that technology can improve efficiencies both prior to and during formal insolvency resolution processes. It therefore would be in the interests of every country to facilitate the adoption of technology at various points in the insolvency process. The article takes a cross‐jurisdictional approach to identify tech advances in insolvency law across different countries based on which best practices and guidelines can be outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effects of financial reporting regulation on firms' banking. Exploiting discontinuous public disclosure and auditing requirements assigned to otherwise similar small and medium-sized private firms, we document that financial reporting regulation reduces firms' reliance on concentrated and local bank relationships and increases banks' reliance on firms' financial reporting, consistent with a shift in firms' banking from relationship toward transactional approaches. Our evidence suggests that financial reporting regulation substitutes for banks' information production role by burdening firms with the disclosure and auditing of their financial statements, consistent with institutional complementarities between reporting and banking systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Journal European Policies, Finance & Marketing / Polityki Europejskie, Finanse & Marketing is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The intention of this research is to take a look show and examine the effect of indicators of liquidity, financial, activity, turnover and profitability at the monetary scenario of a company (bankruptcy / non-bankruptcy). The non-failure predictions are used as an empirical case. In particular, many financial and economic indicators of non-failure predictions and prediction of failure are examined using discriminatory statistics The survey will be carried out in selected small cap companies. The research is being carried out to help the investors and analyst for better decision making. Also very few researches have been conducted so to put more light on the topic research is being conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a century of efforts to constrain money in American elections, there is little consensus on whether campaign finance regulations make any appreciable difference. Here we take advantage of a change in the campaign finance regulations of half of the U.S. states mandated by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. This exogenously imposed change in the regulation of independent expenditures provides an advance over the identification strategies used in most previous studies. Using a generalized synthetic control method, we find that after Citizens United, states that had previously banned independent corporate expenditures (and thus were "treated" by the decision) adopted more "corporate-friendly" policies on issues with broad effects on corporations' welfare; we find no evidence of shifts on policies with little or no effect on corporate welfare. We conclude that even relatively narrow changes in campaign finance regulations can have a substantively meaningful influence on government policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of Regulation Fair Disclosure (RFD) on the horizon of analysts' first earnings forecasts, that is, the first-forecast horizon. The first-forecast horizon is computed as the number of calendar days between the analysts' first earnings forecast for a quarter and the fiscal quarter-end date. We find that the first-forecast horizon has decreased by twelve days after RFD: a 6 percent decrease, on average. Analysts with average annual first-forecast horizon in the top 25 percent for each firm are classified as leaders. Leaders are our proxy for favored analysts who received guidance before RFD. The first-forecast horizon of both the leaders and the followers decreased after RFD. Examining whether the difference between the first-forecast horizon of leaders and followers decreased after RFD provides mixed evidence. This suggests that RFD may not have eliminated the timing advantage that few analysts enjoyed before RFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author responds to the article "Earnings Management through Transaction Structuring: Contingent Convertible Debt and Diluted Earnings per Share," by Carol Marquardt and Christine Wiedman, which appears in this issue. The article discusses possible reasons for companies to issue contingent convertible bonds (COCOs), including possible tax advantages and as a way to create diluted earnings per share. The author feels the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) attempts to maintain neutrality by imposing rules. However, the issuance of COCOs, generally felt to be used to bolster management bonuses, attempts to circumvent such standards.

The law of registration of company charges is of considerable importance for corporate finance transactions throughout the UK. This article analyses the current regime that came into force on 6 April 2013. It examines various aspects of the regime, principally from a Scots law perspective, including what is meant by a "charge", when charges are created, the extent to which unregistered charges are effective, and the rules regarding registration of charges over acquired property. The article demonstrates that, although the new regime is a general improvement on the previous one, there are a number of new and familiar problems concerning its applicability and operation in relation to Scots law. There are also some implications involving the uniformity of Scots law and English law in the area that arise from the fact that the regime is now UK-wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the relevance of margin regulations. Particular attention is given to the effectiveness of margin regulations in adhering to the standards of the Securities Exchange Act (SEA). The scientist Dudley G. Luckett wrote a paper that analyzed the efficacy of margin requirements on the impact of an investor's personal leverage and risk exposure. Luckett's research fails to answer the impact of changes in margin requirements on the valuation of corporations, the uncertainty of returns on stocks, and credit allocation on the economy. This paper uses the modern finance theory to analyze some of these effects.

This article examines stock market performance of primary common stock offerings in Canada during the periods of 1926-1928, 1956-1963, and 1968-1969; it then compares their performance to similar stock offerings in the United States previously researched by George J. Stigler as well as by Irwin Friend and Edward E. Herman. The primary stock offerings include both initial public offerings and seasoned equity offerings and are further broken down by industry. A discussion of both U.S. and Canadian stock market legislation, stockholder motivation, and dividends is presented.

Considering the European Union's efforts to tackle various forms of financial crime more effectively, especially since the financial crisis of 2008, one would expect that the Union has also been strengthening its grip on national law with respect to corporate financial crime. Instead, this Article finds that the EU approach to corporate financial crime has actually not evolved that much over the past two decades. Moreover, this Article demonstrates that EU law still fails to sufficiently take into account the specific features of corporate entities (as opposed to individuals), as well as to fully exploit the potential strengths of a criminal law approach, as opposed to an administrative or civil law approach. In the author's view, the EU should more carefully consider the objectives and strengths of different kinds of enforcement mechanisms and adopt a more coherent approach, particularly with respect to corporations. Furthermore, when it comes to corporate punishment, the EU seemingly lacks ambition and creativity. EU legal instruments focus strongly on fines while insufficiently exploring other, potentially more adequate sanctions to achieve certain punishment goals. Ultimately, this may undermine the effectiveness of the EU's fight against corporate financial crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in corporate finance are driven by frustrations with present regulations and fueled by the internet and social media. Hyperfunding is one such example: Tesla paved the way for an electric vehicle revolution by preselling hundreds of thousands of its Model 3 EV direct to consumers. Unwary consumers may not have realized that they were underwriting Tesla's bold strategy to transform multiple product markets. Risks were not disclosed. Rewards proved illusory. Investors would have been entitled to disclosures and colorable claims of fraud when Tesla missed milestones and deadlines. But consumers can only get their $1000 deposit back, without interest, if Tesla has the financial and reputational capital to refund consumers. What happens when an undercapitalized or fraudulent firm uses the same technique and fails to deliver? Are cryptocurrency promoters and "initial coin offerings" already Hyperfunding, pumping, and dumping vaporware? This Article explores challenges with regulating novel techniques in corporate finance and discusses an initial framework for protecting investors while promoting innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This instructional case focuses on the auditor's going concern decision for a private retail client. The primary objective of this case is to understand and examine the auditor's consideration of the client's ability to continue as a going concern in a real-world setting. The case provides students with the financial aspects as well as the personal aspects of such a decision. Specifically, students must complete analytical procedures and evaluate information from several sources when forming their opinion. We also ask students to contemplate the auditor's relationship with the client in order to understand issues involving auditor independence. Throughout the case, students have the opportunity to review applicable auditing standards and to draft a going concern audit report. We expect this case would be most applicable for an undergraduate or a graduate audit course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement has become a top priority for the U.S. government, and government enforcement officials have stated that "we in the United States are in a unique position to spread the gospel of anti-corruption" and that FCPA enforcement ensures not only that the United States "is on the right side of history, but also that it has a hand in advancing that history." However, the FCPA is not the only statute in the federal criminal code concerning bribery. Rather, the FCPA was modeled in large part after the U.S. domestic bribery statute, and when speaking of its FCPA enforcement program, the government has recognized that it "could not be effective abroad if we did not lead by example here at home." Indeed, the policy reasons motivating Congress to enact the FCPA--that corporate payments were subverting the democratic process, undermining the integrity and stability of government, and eroding public confidence in basic institutions--apply with equal force to domestic bribery. Against this backdrop, this Article explores through various case studies and examples whether the United States's crusade against bribery suffers from uncomfortable truths and double standards. Through these case studies and examples, readers can decide for themselves whether the U.S. government "practices what it preaches" when it comes to the enforcement of bribery laws and whether the United States is indeed "in a unique position to spread the gospel of anti-corruption." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the unintended effects of a pre-Reg FD practice that gave a broad group of sophisticated market participants 15-minute earlier access to all corporate press releases than the general public. We find that roughly one-eighth of the price discovery to earnings announcements issued during regular trading hours was due to privileged access to information in earnings press releases, with the 15-minute priority dissemination contributing to just over 50 percent of price discovery from all privileged access. In addition, we find that transient institutions benefited from priority dissemination, especially when the earnings contained good news. Finally, consistent with economic theory, we find that intraday bid-ask spreads decreased post-Reg FD for firms that had sufficient market liquidity to allow trading opportunities during the 15-minute window. Our study has implications for current discussions on whether preferential information distribution by firms and information intermediaries creates an uneven playing field among investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the uncertainty that is associated with the future of a ban which prohibits U.S. federally-chartered corporations from making campaign contributions in any election and prevents all corporations from making campaign donations in America's federal elections as of 2015. American state laws are mentioned, along with the U.S. Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the campaign finance cases Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) and McCutcheon v. FEC.

One important aspect of Citizens United has been overlooked: the tension between the conservative majority's view of for-profit corporations and the theory of for-profit corporations embraced by conservative thinkers. This Article explores the tension between these conservative schools of thought and shows that Citizens United may unwittingly strengthen the arguments of conservative corporate theory's principal rival. Citizens United posits that stockholders of for-profit corporations can constrain corporate political spending and that corporations can legitimately engage in political spending. Conservative corporate theory is premised on the contrary assumptions that stockholders are poorly positioned to monitor corporate managers for even their fidelity to a profit-maximization principle, and that corporate managers have no legitimate ability to reconcile stockholders' diverse political views. Because stockholders invest in for-profit corporations for financial gain, and not to express political or moral values, conservative corporate theory argues that corporate managers should focus solely on stockholder wealth maximization and non-stockholder constituencies and society should rely upon government regulation to protect against corporate overreaching. Conservative corporate theory's recognition that corporations lack legitimacy in this area has been strengthened by market developments that Citizens United slighted: that most humans invest in the equity markets through mutual funds under 401(k) plans, cannot exit these investments as a practical matter, and lack any rational ability to influence how corporations spend in the political process. Because Citizens United unleashes corporate wealth to influence who gets elected to regulate corporate conduct and because conservative corporate theory holds that such spending may only be motivated by a desire to increase corporate profits, the result is that corporations are likely to engage in political spending solely to elect or defeat candidates who favor industry-friendly regulatory policies, even though human investors have far broader concerns, including a desire to be protected from externalities generated by corporate profit seeking. Citizens United thus undercuts conservative corporate theory's reliance upon regulation as an answer to corporate externality risk, and strengthens the argument of its rival theory that corporate managers must consider the best interests of employees, consumers, communities, the environment, and society--and not just stockholders--when making business decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the ways to balance specificity and ambiguity in financial regulations related to corporate finance and capital markets. Topics discussed include efforts of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set up and enforce laws; SEC's expansive prohibitions on fraud, and responsibility of financial industry to respond to a system of backstop ambiguity.

The article discusses the reported rhetoric and reality of political campaign finance disclosure in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the case Citizens United v. FEC which deals with the demise of apparently long-standing limits on corporate spending in U.S. federal elections. American constitutional law is addressed in relation to disclaimer requirements. The campaign contribution-related Longitudinal Elite Contributor Database is examined, along with U.S. campaign finance reform.

The article focuses on the use of balance sheet insolvency tests under Australian bankruptcy law in 2014. Topics include the courts' definition of solvent and insolvent corporations, the use of the balance sheet test to determine solvency, and the valuation of liabilities. Information is provided on the cash flow test.

The article presents information on the final regulations released by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the treatment of costs to acquire, produce, or improve tangible property. The final regulations expand the definition of materials and supplies, and also include property that has an acquisition or production cost. The final regulations do not allow a business to capitalize and depreciate materials that are temporary, or standby emergency spare parts.

The article focuses on the arrangements and reorganizations of insolvent companies under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) and provincial or territorial corporate law. It highlights the advantages of each section of the CBCA and outlines their arrangement in the order of their occurrence. It discusses the provisions for corporate statutes of most Canadian provinces and territories. It reports about the CBCA Arrangements Policy which focuses on the use of procedural safeguards.

The article discusses the Mudarabah, a partnership in profit whereby one party provides capital and the other party provides labor as defined by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). It outlines Pakistan's Shariah standards of Mudarabah including its scope, financing agreement and contracts. It states that the standards were adopted in the country after consultation with stakeholders and approval from Shariah Board at State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Manuscript Type Empirical Research Question/Issue We explore how the combinations of firm-level corporate governance ( CG) practices embedded in different national governance systems lead to high firm performance. Research Findings/Insights Using fuzzy set/qualitative comparative analysis, we uncover a variety of findings. First, we show that within each of the stylized national CG models, there are multiple bundles of firm-level governance practices leading to high firm performance (i.e., equifinality). Second, we provide evidence of complementarity as well as functional equivalence between CG practices. Finally, we demonstrate that there can be heterogeneity ('differences in kind') in firm governance practices within each stylized model of CG. Theoretical/Academic Implications We build on the configurational and complementarity-based approaches to make the following theoretical claims. First, governance practices within firm bundles do not always relate to each other in a monotonic and cumulative fashion as this entails higher costs and possibly over-governance. Second, practices in bundles do not need to be aligned toward the insider or the outsider model ('similar in kind'). We argue that non-aligned practices can also be complementary, creating hybrid governance forms. Third, we predict functional equivalence across bundles of CG practices which grants firms agency on which of the practices to implement in order to achieve high performance. Practitioner/Policy Implications We contribute to comparative CG research by demonstrating that there are multiple governance paths leading to high firm performance, and that these practices do not always belong to the same national governance tradition. Therefore, our findings alert of the perils of 'one size fits all' governance solutions when designing and implementing CG policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nation's thin capitalisation laws are an important instrument for preventing revenue loss resulting from excessive allocation of debt to resident operations. These laws can also act as a tool for regulating the structures and processes of entities within a nation's borders. The principal purpose of this paper is to establish the merits of Australia's thin capitalisation laws based on three criteria: the extent to which they comply with OECD guidelines; the extent to which they reflect the policy behind their enactment; and their strength relative to the thin capitalisation regimes of fellow OECD member countries. The paper will also provide comment on the recent proposals to reform the thin capitalisation regime following the 2013-14 Federal Budget release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses governmental concessions in corporate bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. as of June 2013, focusing on U.S. debtor-creditor laws, as well as Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations and Chapter 7 liquidations under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Financially distressed corporations and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are mentioned, along with anticompetitive mergers, government regulators, and the U.S. Supreme Court case FCC v. NextWave Personal Communications.

The article discusses the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as of April 2013 and a call for the government agency to implement rules which would require public companies to disclose their political spending. A reported emergence of voluntary disclosure practices is addressed, along with public-company investor and shareholder rights in relation to corporate political spending. The U.S. Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC is examined.

An essay is presented on the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act (FRIA) in the Philippines. It offers an overview of the FRIA and discusses the conflicting concepts of the Creditor Approval Provision and Cram Down Power of Rehabilitation Court under the act. The author mentions the significance of the provisions in the rehabilitation of both the creditors and debtors and dynamic relationship of both parties.

Building on contract theory, we argue that financial covenants control the conflicts of interest between lenders and borrowers via two different mechanisms. Capital covenants control agency problems by aligning debt holder-shareholder interests. Performance covenants serve as trip wires that limit agency problems via the transfer of control to lenders in states where the value of their claim is at risk. Companies trade off these mechanisms. Capital covenants impose costly restrictions on the capital structure, while performance covenants require contractible accounting information to be available. Consistent with these arguments, we find that the use of performance covenants relative to capital covenants is positively associated with (1) the financial constraints of the borrower, (2) the extent to which accounting information portrays credit risk, (3) the likelihood of contract renegotiation, and (4) the presence of contractual restrictions on managerial actions. Our findings suggest that accounting-based covenants can improve contracting efficiency in two different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the new Portuguese legal system of no par value shares – recently introduced in Portugal by Decree Law 49/2010, published on 19 May – as well as the main reason for this legal solution: to make corporate financing in the stock market more flexible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses financial regulation. The author argues that the implementation of government regulation to prevent economic bubbles is mistaken policy. He argues that the end of bubbles are difficult to preemptively mitigate. The article contrasts the fluctuations of the U.S. stock market in technology stocks in the 1990s with the collapse of the housing market in the early 21st century. The author argues that the housing market's decline was more harmful because of the impact upon the financial sector's lack of capitalization.

The article focuses on the use of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in corporate bankruptcy law. Topics include bankruptcy-remote investment entities, the consequences of a parent company's bankruptcy on a satellite corporation, and bankruptcy-remote status. Information is provided on the court cases In re LTV Steel Co., In re Pacific Lumber Co., and In re General Growth Properties Inc.

Regulators have expressed concern that investors are confused by the large number and questionable materiality of accounting restatements since passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). This study looks for evidence of investor confusion by examining stock returns and trading volume. I find that the initial price reaction to restatement announcements becomes significantly less negative after SOX, even after controlling for the less egregious nature of post-SOX restatements. To assess whether the less negative reaction represents under-reaction, I test whether stock prices drift negatively over the months and years after the initial reaction. I find no evidence of statistically negative drifts unique to the post-SOX period. In fact, I find that post-SOX drifts are statistically less negative than pre-SOX drifts, suggesting that price efficiency actually improves after SOX. Finally, I find no evidence that post-SOX restatements have higher trading volume after controlling for contemporaneous returns, suggesting no increase in disagreement among investors about the restatements. Thus, the findings provide little evidence that investors are confused by post-SOX restatements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial case Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission, involving issues related to federal election laws and constraining corporate financing. It examines the legislative and judicial treatment of corporate financing laws in regard to elections. It presents opinions that oppose the unrestricted corporate political speech and those supporting an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution First Amendment regarding the corporate entity.

In this article the author discusses the decisions of Citizens United, a conservative nonprofit organization, on potential laws that limit foreign influences in domestic campaigns in the U.S. He states that the organization produced the documentary film "Hillary: The Movie," which portrays former Senator Hillary Clinton. It reviews the theoretical basis for the restriction of foreign influences in domestic campaigns. It also calls for the exclusion of foreign-related firms in domestic elections.

In Citizens United vs. FEC, the Supreme Court struck down a Federal statute banning direct corporate expenditures on political campaigns. The decision has been widely criticized and praised as a matter of First Amendment law. But it is also interesting as another step in the evolution of our legal views of the corporation. This Article argues that by viewing Citizens United through the prism of theories about the corporate form, it is possible to see that the majority and the dissent departed from previous Supreme Court jurisprudence on the First Amendment rights of corporations. It is also possible to then predict what arguments can be expected next. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study examines the nature of industrial and global diversification for a sample of more than 12 000 firms across 35 emerging and developed countries during the period 1991-2006. Consistent with previous studies, we find that industrial diversification, either alone or combined with global diversification, results in a reduction of firm excess value. Global diversification alone, however, does not exert a significant impact on excess value. In an analysis of the decision to diversify, we find that firms in civil law countries or less developed nations are more likely to diversify, suggesting the greater utility of internal capital markets in economies where it is difficult to raise external capital. We observe that high leverage, larger size, lower levels of growth, R&D, free cash flow, profitability and Tobin's q encourage firms to diversify industrially. Higher values of q, firm size, R&D expenditures, free cash flow and liquidity, but reduced growth rates and profitability are associated with global diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the relationship between corporate governance quality and dividend policy in Canada. Based on the agency theory predictions, we consider the effect of two conflicting hypotheses about the effect of corporate governance on dividend payouts: the outcome and substitution hypotheses. The effectiveness of firm-level governance mechanisms is assessed through the Globe & Mail annual corporate governance index and four sub-categories scores (board composition, shareholding and compensation issues, shareholder rights issues and corporate governance disclosure policy). Using a sample of 714 firm-years listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the period 2002-2005, our results show that firms with stronger corporate governance have higher dividend payouts. Among the four components of the corporate governance index, we document that board composition and shareholder rights’ policy are positively related to payout ratios. We also find a positive association between firm size, the level of free cash flows and dividend payouts. Finally, we document a negative relationship between firm risk, US cross-listing and dividend payouts. Taken together our results are consistent with the outcome model of dividend policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because authoritative statements on corporate governance (e.g., the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) are silent about how frequently audit committees should meet, corporate audit committees have considerable discretion in scheduling meetings. Although prior research shows the frequency of audit committee meetings is an important indicator of the effectiveness of the audit committee, we know very little about the underlying determinants of meeting frequency. In this study, we examine the determinants of the frequency of audit committee meetings in a voluntary governance system, New Zealand. We find that multiple directorships, audit committee independence, and an independent chair of the audit committee are negatively associated with meeting frequency. Other variables negatively associated with meeting frequency include a Big 4 auditor, growth opportunities, and regulated industry. Audit committee meeting frequency is positively associated with the size of the audit committee and the level of institutional and managerial ownership. We also find that financial expertise and board independence are positively associated with meeting frequency when the risk of financial misreporting is higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]