There has been considerable research in respect of voluntary disclosure by companies and factors that may explain such disclosure. However, most of the research has been centred in developed countries. This study extends the previous literature by examining voluntary disclosure in a developing country, namely Kenya. Over the last decade, the Kenyan Government has initiated several far-reaching reforms at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to mobilise domestic savings and attract foreign capital investment. These measures include privatisation of state corporations through the stock exchange and allowing foreign investors to own shares in the listed companies. This study provides a longitudinal examination of voluntary disclosure practices in the annual reports of listed companies in Kenya from 1992 to 2001. The study investigates the extent to which corporate governance attributes, ownership structure and company characteristics influence voluntary disclosure practices. Copyright (c) 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Corporate social reporting, Kenya, Banks, Board representation,

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of investment climate and firm-specific variables on the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach The paper utilized a cross-section survey data of 2,536 MSEs in Kenya. Using the sales growth as the dependent variable, the paper tests the hypotheses that investment climate variables – entrepreneur perception of fairness and affordability of the courts in dealing with commercial disputes, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, crime incidences; and firm-specific resources affect MSE growth. Findings Positive entrepreneur perception of the fairness and affordability of the courts, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, lower incidences of crime, entrepreneur education and experience positively affect MSE growth. Research limitations/implications Although the context of the study is Kenya, the study has relevance to other developing countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa due to institutional similarities. The paper, however, uses cross-sectional data, which unlike panel data, do not allow for establishing dynamic relationships. This could be a potential area for further research. Originality/value The paper is among the first to establish effects of entrepreneur perception on MSE growth with regards the court system in dealing with business disputes in terms of fairness, timeliness, affordability and enforcement. The paper also extends limited extant research on MSE growth constraints with regards to incidences of insecurity, access to bank credit, connections to utilities and internal resources.

This paper provides an empirical analysis of banks performance in Kenya. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the association between ownership structure characteristics and bank performance. Data utilised in the study is collected from the Financial Institutions Department of the Central Bank of Kenya, both on-site inspection reports and off-site surveillance records. Empirical results indicate that ownership structure of banks significantly influence their financial performance. In particular, board and government ownership are significantly and negatively associated with bank performance, whereas foreign ownership is strongly positively associated with bank performance, and institutional shareholders have no impact on the performance of financial institutions in Kenya. The study makes a significant contribution to financial research by extending examination of banks performance to a developing country context beyond the usual confines of the developed western economies, and adds to the small number of similar studies in the African context. The results are consistent with prior research findings, and more importantly, presents statistical justification for pursuing further corporate governance reforms with respect to banks’ ownership structure to enhance the financial stability of the sector

PurposeThis paper seeks to provide a textual analysis of the anti money laundering practices of the central banks of Australia (Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)) and Ukraine (National Bank of Ukraine (NBU)).Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is performed two ways by both calculating a disclosure index and through use of textual analysis.FindingsThe results show very low levels of anti money laundering disclosures by both NBU and RBA with NBU usually showing more. Textual analysis reveals that the NBU is prepared to internalise its discussion on anti‐money laundering discussing wide‐ranging topics. There appears to be a concerted communication effort by NBU to tackle the issues of money laundering head‐on. Textual analysis of the RBA's four annual reports show a clipped discourse on anti‐money laundering, treating it as if it were a distant concern. Over the four year period, there is little acknowledgement in the way of RBA textual discourse that Australia is a jurisdiction of primary concern.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is that, it emphasizes that, if the globalised activity of money laundering is to be crushed further energies are needed to woo central banks from varied backgrounds into exerting their considerable resources toward anti‐money laundering enforcement.