The effects of board of directors' characteristics and risk management committee on the financial performance of listed banks in Iraq

Good corporate governance practices and setting up of an
independent risk management committee are considered as crucial
in decreasing risk for investors and enhancing performance. This
study examined the effects of board of directors’ characteristics and
risk management committee’s attributes on the financial
performance of listed banks in Iraq. The research used secondary
data obtained from the data stream and annual report of all banks
listed in the Iraq stock exchange for the year 2017-2019 with 63
firm-year observations. In addition, the regression was based on
panel Corrected Standard Error. The result shows that the size and
the board of directors and its independence exhibit significant and
negative associations the banks’ performance. However, the board
of directors’ financial expertise and the independence of the risk
management committee had positive yet insignificant associations
with performance. This study provided suggestions for future
research work and several recommendations for regulators and the
Iraqi banking industry.