Institutional Characteristics and the Faithful Representation ofFinancial Reporting of Selected Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria IntroductionThe need for quality reporting can be traced right to the beginning of reporting itself. This is evidenced in the creation of auditing which name is derived from the root Latin word 'audire' which means to listen (Owolabi, Jayeoba&Ajibade, 2016). Beest, Braam and Boelen (2009) confirmed financial reporting quality to be a broad term covering not only the disclosure of financial information but also of non-financial information with a view to assisting users of the financial report to take meaningful financial decisions. IASB (2008) on the other hand, gives a more explicit meaning of quality financial reporting. It explained it as financial information not lacking in fundamental (relevance and faithful representation) and enhancing (timeliness, comparability, verifiability and understandability) qualities. In this regard, Akinyemi, Okoye and Izedonmi (2015) traced regulation of financial reporting to as early as the reign of the Babylonian empire between 2035BC to 2017BC. During this period, the aim of ensuring faithful representation of the economic reality of reporting entities was in order to enable government raise appropriate taxes.The challenge of producing quality financial report has significantly been observed as a need since the 18th century when the first industrial revolution took place which led to ownership being separated from management and created a need for stewardship report of the activities of the management (agent) to the owners (principal) of the business (Akinyemi, Okoye&Izedonmi, 2015). However, both parties are prone to pursuing their egoistic desire thus creating the possibility of management sacrificing the quality of faithful representation of financial reporting prepared through the accountants which leads to the problem of information asymmetry, meaning that although financial reports are prepared and presented, there are chances that it does not capture the full economic position (i.e. lacking in faithful representation) of the reporting firm (Siyanbola, Ogbebor, Okeke&Okunade, 2019). Also, corporate failures without any indication from the financial reports, is not an occurrence of the 21st century as it has existed in earlier centuries and is attributed to financial reporting lack in faithful representation of transactions (Aifuwa&Embele, 2019