The Impact of Eliminating the Form 20-F Reconciliation on Shareholder Wealth: Evidence from U.S. Cross-Listed Firms

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Huajing Chen ◽  
Inder K. Khurana

ABSTRACT This paper examines shareholder wealth effects in U.S. and home-country markets relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to eliminate the Form 20-F reconciliation. During the period of examined events, we find positive cumulative abnormal returns for the treatment sample of U.S. cross-listed firms that prepare financial statements under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), but no such effects for our control sample comprising cross-listed non-IFRS, U.S. domestic, or home-country firms. We find the stock market impact for our treatment sample to be positively related to our proxy for cost savings and negatively related to the pre-adoption reconciliation magnitude from IFRS to U.S. GAAP. This suggests shareholders place some value on reconciliation information, but the costs of preparing and auditing reconciliations generally outweigh concern about information loss. Moreover, we find that information loss is less pronounced for firms having used IFRS for a longer period, suggesting the learning effect mitigates information loss. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from sources identified in the article.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Teschner ◽  
Herbert Paul

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to study the impact of divestitures on shareholder wealth. This study covers selloffs of publicly traded companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH region) during the period 2002–2018. It aims to understand the overall effect of selloffs on shareholder wealth as well as the impact of important influencing factors.Design/methodology/approachThis study is part of capital market studies which investigate shareholder wealth effects (abnormal returns) using event study methodology. To determine the significance of abnormal returns, a standardized cross-sectional test as suggested by Boehmer et al. (1991) was applied. The sample consists of 393 selloffs of publicly traded companies with a deal value of at least EUR 10m.FindingsThe findings confirm the overall positive impact of selloffs on shareholder wealth. The average abnormal return on the announcement day of the sample companies amounts to 1.33%. The type of buyer, the relative size of the transaction as well as the financial situation of the seller in particular seem to influence abnormal returns positively.Originality/valueThis study investigates shareholder wealth creation through selloffs in the DACH region, a largely neglected region in divestiture research, but now very relevant due to increasing pressure of active foreign investors. Sophisticated statistical methods were used to generate robust findings, which are in line with the results of similar studies for the US and the UK.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Chen ◽  
Xiaohong (Sara) Wang ◽  
Jie Zhou

ABSTRACT We investigate the market reaction to legislative events pertaining to the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) mandate. The SEC contends that requiring issuers to adopt XBRL for filing their financial statements would reduce information processing costs and improve market efficiency. In contrast, skeptics argue that the mandatory adoption of XBRL would impose substantial costs while providing few, if any, benefits to investors. Using stock returns from countries that did not mandate the adoption of XBRL to model normal U.S. returns, we provide evidence of a positive market reaction to legislative events related to the XBRL mandate. Moreover, we find that the abnormal returns to these events are increasing for firms with less accessible information, higher information asymmetry, greater information processing costs, and lower financial reporting transparency. Overall, our results suggest an expected net benefit to shareholders from the XBRL mandate. JEL Classifications: M41; K22.


2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Joe ◽  
Arnold Wright, and ◽  
Sally Wright

SUMMARY We present evidence on the resolution of proposed audit adjustments during a unique time period, immediately following several U.S. financial scandals and surrounding calls for reforms in auditing and financial reporting, which culminated in the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). During this period, auditors and their clients faced increased scrutiny from investors and regulators. In addition, auditors had to contend with changed incentives, a new external regulator (i.e., the PCAOB), and upcoming annual PCAOB inspections. We extend prior studies by considering a broader range of factors potentially impacting the resolution of proposed adjustments, including the effect of client tenure, strength of internal controls, and repeat adjustments. Data on 458 proposed adjustments are obtained from the working papers of a sample of 163 audit engagements conducted during 2002 by a Big 4 firm. We find that 24.2 percent of proposed adjustments were subsequently waived. The results indicate audit adjustments are more likely to be waived for clients with whom the audit firm has had a longer relationship, although the pattern does not reflect favoring such clients. We also find that adjustments are more likely to be waived for repeat adjustments. Data Availability: Due to a confidentiality agreement with the participating audit firm the data are proprietary.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis Tampakoudis ◽  
Michail Nerantzidis ◽  
Demetres Subeniotis ◽  
Apostolos Soutsas ◽  
Nikolaos Kiosses

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the wealth implications of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the unique Greek setting given the triple crisis phenomenon – banking, sovereign debt and economic crises – that prevailed after the global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach The study examines bank M&As and bank transactions over the period from 1997 to 2018, as well as government-assisted M&As during the crisis. The wealth effects of bank M&As are assessed using both univariate and multivariate frameworks. Findings Findings show a neutral crisis effect on the valuation of M&As upon their announcement. However, the authors provide conclusive evidence that M&A completions are value-destroying events for acquiring banks during the crisis, far worse than in the pre-crisis period. Greek banks also fail to create value from government-assisted mergers. The results suggest that the financial stability and the prevention of further deepening of the Greek crisis with possible contagion effects were achieved at the expense of shareholders and taxpayers. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of the Greek triple crisis on the wealth effects of bank M&As and bank transactions. Also, the study provides first evidence with regard to the economic impact of government-assisted M&As in the European context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-807
Author(s):  
Eugene Kang ◽  
Asda Chintakananda

ABSTRACTThis study examines how cognitive categorization by host-country investors give rise to negative spillovers among host-country foreign-listed firms from the same home country when one of these foreign-listed firms discloses a financial reporting irregularity. This study further examines how attributes of host-country independent directors mitigate such negative spillover effects through signaling fulfilment of their fiduciary duties. Our results based on Chinese foreign-listed firms on the Singapore Stock Exchange from 2007–2014 reveal that host-country independent directors increase spillover effects among foreign-listed Chinese firms from financial reporting irregularities. However, such increase is attenuated when these directors signal fulfilment of their fiduciary duties through home-country, industry, or task-related experiences, and the observed mitigating effect is stronger when they possess a combination of these experiences.


2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 2061-2094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Bon Kim ◽  
Xiaohong Liu ◽  
Liu Zheng

ABSTRACT: This study examines the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on audit fees. We first build an analytical audit fee model to analyze the impact on audit fees for the change in both audit complexity and financial reporting quality brought about by IFRS adoption. We then test the model's predictions using audit fee data from European Union countries that mandated IFRS adoption in 2005. We find that mandatory IFRS adoption has led to an increase in audit fees. We also find that the IFRS-related audit fee premium increases with the increase in audit complexity brought about by IFRS adoption, and decreases with the improvement in financial reporting quality arising from IFRS adoption. Finally, we find some evidence that the IFRS-related audit fee premium is lower in countries with stronger legal regimes. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks. Data availability: Data are available from public sources identified in the paper.


2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 417-444
Author(s):  
Godfred A. Bokpin ◽  
Zangina Isshaq ◽  
Eunice Stella Nyarko

Purpose – The study aims to seeks to ascertain the impact of corporate disclosure on foreign equity ownership. Corporate disclosures are important to for stock markets because it is an activity that mitigates information differences between company insiders and outsiders. Design/methodology/approach – Corporate disclosures assume an even greater important when company outsiders are not domiciled in the same country as the company and the company insiders. In this study, the relation between foreign share ownership and corporate disclosures using data on Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria is examined. Findings – The consistent results in this study are that foreign share ownership is positively related to firm size. A negative relation, however, between foreign share ownership and corporate disclosure is found, but this turns out to be related to disclosures about ownership, while disclosures on financial reporting and board management have a positive and insignificant statistical relation taking into account unobserved country, time and firm effects. Further analysis shows that corporate disclosures are very persistent and negatively related to lag foreign share ownership. No consistent statistical relation is found between disclosure and market-to-book values as a proxy for investment opportunities. It is recommended to African-listed firms to pursue adoption of high-quality financial reporting standards and to increase their reporting on board management. The study also recommends that the African Government weighs the benefits of detailed ownership disclosures. Originality/value – The study utilises frontier market data to complement existing literature on how corporate disclosure and transparency influences foreign investors decision to invest in Africa.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria T. Caban-Garcia ◽  
Haihong He

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact on the comparability of earnings of two important events that occurred in 2005 in the Scandinavian region: the European Union-mandated adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the mergers between the three national exchanges of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Our tests follow two approaches. The first approach relies on mean-centered earnings/price multiples following Land and Lang (2002) to determine if the multiples converge in the 2005–2008 period. Our results show that all countries except Finland experienced a lower mean-centered earnings/price ratio in the 2005–2008 period. Additionally, in the 2005–2008 period, the mean-centered earnings/price ratio in Norway deviates from the region's mean more than it deviates from the mean in Finland, Denmark, and Sweden, even after controlling for other firm and country factors. Our second approach uses a firm-year comparability measure (De Franco et al. 2011) calculated during the 2001–2004 and 2005–2008 periods to assess whether comparability increases during the 2005–2008 period. Since the two events in our study are contemporaneous, we use Norway as a benchmark to separate the effect of IFRS from that of harmonized regulation after the merger. The results generally show that comparability is significantly higher during the 2005–2008 period in all countries. Our multivariate tests also confirm that comparability increases (although marginally) for all OMX Nordic Exchange countries, relative to Norway, from the 2001–2004 to the 2005–2008 period. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources indicated in the paper.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Luo ◽  
Qingliang Tang

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the impact of the proposed carbon tax on the financial market return of Australian firms. It also considers the differential tax effect on individual firms with different carbon profiles, including factors such as emissions costs, carbon disclosure and climate-change policies. Design/methodology/approach – Utilising the event-study method, the authors examine the market reaction to seven key carbon legislative information events that occurred from February 2011 to November 2011. The sample includes 48 different firms whose emissions-related data are available from Carbon Disclosure Project reports; thus, 336 firm-event observations are used for the cross-sectional analysis. Findings – The paper documents evidence that the proposed tax has an overall negative impact on shareholder wealth as measured by abnormal returns. The negative impact varies across sectors, with the most significant effect found in the materials, industrial and financial sectors. It was also found that a firm’s direct carbon exposure (as measured by Scope 1 emissions) is significantly associated with abnormal returns, whereas the indirect exposure (as measured by Scope 2 emissions) is not, because Scope 2 emissions are not covered by the tax. In addition, the findings suggest that the information content of the events is more notable during the early stages of the development of the carbon tax. Research limitations/implications – The sample is restricted to the largest firms with relevant carbon profile information. Thus, caution should be exercised when generalising the inferences. Practical implications – The introduction of the carbon tax was largely unexpected and most firms were unprepared for it; thus, their carbon policy appears inadequate and does not impress investors. An understanding of how the carbon tax affects shareholder value and welfare will encourage management to take proactive actions to mitigate the compliance costs of carbon legislation. Originality/value – The enactment of the Australian carbon tax perhaps represents one of the biggest social and economic restructuring events in the country’s history. Our results offer initial insight into its impact and suggest that investors would penalise firms with heavy direct operational emissions. In addition, Australian corporate carbon policy seems inadequate, so does not reverse the negative effect of the tax on the value of a firm.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Karen T. Cascini ◽  
Alan DelFavero ◽  
Ryan Bezner

Corporate earnings restatements are regarded as one of the most significant issues in accounting today. While there are various factors that can influence profitability, revenue is the key contributor to a business net income. During the 2000s, a multitude of domestic and multinational corporations faced significant issues with their revenue recognition practices. Although the investing public might regard any revenue restatement as laden with possible fraud, this is not always the case. Multinational firms face dual accounting systems, such as U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Currently, similarities and differences between the accounting systems exist. However, key differences between GAAP and IFRS may cease to exist in upcoming years due to the Financial Accounting Standards Boards (FASBs) and the International Accounting Standards Boards (IASBs) joint effort to converge the two systems. Throughout this paper, examples of revenue miscalculations will be presented as well any penalties levied by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission against implicated corporations. Accordingly, the impact that revenue blunders have on shareholder wealth will be examined. Finally, the authors will present recommendations for mitigating revenue errors in the future.


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