No abstract

The focus of this study was to examine the effect of liquidity risk on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The period of interest was between year 2005 and 2014 for all the 43 registered commercial banks in Kenya. Liquidity risk was measured by liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and net stable funding ratio (NSFR) while financial performance by return on equity (ROE). Data was collected from commercial banks' financial statements filed with the Central Bank of Kenya. Panel data techniques of random effects estimation and generalized method of moments (GMM) were used to purge time-invariant unobserved firm specific effects and to mitigate potential endogeneity problems. Pairwise correlations between the variables were carried out. Wald and F-tests were used to determine the significance of the regression while the coefficient of determination, within and between, was used to determine how much variation in dependent variable is explained by independent variables. Findings indicate that NSFR is negatively associated with bank profitability both in long run and short run while LCR does not significantly influence the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya both in long run and short run. However, the overall effect was that liquidity risk has a negative effect on financial performance. It is therefore advisable for a bank's management to pay the required attention to the liquidity management.

Despite the growth in the Kenyan banking sector, market risk still remains a major challenge. The objective of study was to assess the effect of market risk on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study covered the period between year 2005 and 2014. Market risk was measured by degree of financial leverage, interest rate risk and foreign exchange exposure while financial performance was measured by return on equity. The study used the balance sheets components and financial ratios for 43 registered commercial banks in Kenya. Panel data techniques of random effects, fixed effects estimation and generalized method of moments (GMM) were used to purge time-invariant unobserved firm specific effects and to mitigate potential endogeneity problems. The pairwise correlations between the variables were carried out. Ftest was used to determine the significance of the regression while the coefficient of determination, within and between R 2 , were used to determine how much variation in dependent variable is explained by independent variables. From the results financial leverage, interest rate and foreign exchange exposure have negative and significant relationship with bank profitability. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that commercial banks especially locally owned are required to consider finding ways of mitigating the market risks by use of financial instruments such as financial derivatives and be active in derivatives markets. These may reduce their interest rate risk and foreign currency risk exposure. The commercial banks are also required to monitor the financial leverage so as to reduce the financial risk.

This paper sought to establish the moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between capital structure and financial distress of listed non-financial firms in Kenya. Firm size was measured using the natural logarithm of total assets while capital structure was operationalized by total debt, long-term debt and short term debt financing. The degree of financial distress was measured using the Altman's Z-score index as reviewed for the emerging markets. Secondary data from audited and published financial statements was collected on the 40 listed non-financial firms between year 2006 and 2015. The study estimated the specified panel regression model for fixed effects as supported by the Hausman test results. Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) regression results revealed that firm size has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between capital structure and financial distress of non-financial firms. Specifically, the study found that although generally debt has a negative and significant effect on financial distress of the studied companies, this effect becomes positive and significant as the size of the firm increases. The study further found that use of long term debt has a positive and significant effect among largescale firms while short term debt is significantly detrimental. On the basis of these empirical findings, the study recommended that managers of listed non-financial companies should always consider the size of the firm in making leverage choice decisions for their entities.

The shift towards defined contribution schemes is forcing employees to take personal responsibility for securing their future through intentional retirement savings. Financial behavior may have a significant bearing on whether employees meet their contributory retirement obligations while avoiding financial distress. Utilising a cross-sectional research design and data from pension scheme members in Kenya, the study evaluates the interaction of self-control bias. The binary logistic regression results showed that financially disciplined individuals are 1.634 times more likely to plan comprehensively for their retirement, while the interaction results suggest that individuals with self-control bias are 0.502 times less likely to be comprehensive retirement planners even if they are already financially disciplined. The findings imply that financial discipline coupled with selfcontrol is necessary for retirement planning. The use of behavioral change interventions is recommended in financial education initiatives in order to inculcate both desirable financial behavior and self-control attributes in planning for retirement.