Corporate governance and performance: stakes on ownership? Empirical research of the Ukrainian banks

Abstract

This paper was aimed to examine the relationship between corporate governance and financial performance in terms of ownership of 41 banks that represent Ukrainian banking system in 2006-2009. Correlation results could be used as an indicator of the weak link between corporate governance dynamics and operating performance. The Corporate Governance Dynamics Ratio was introduced to evaluate the CG in banks from the sample. It was determined during the study that majority of the banks could be found in the “30 to 80 points” range, which indicates the low level of CG practices’ implementation. On the other hand, there were some outliers – 6 banks with Ukrainian ownership have higher rankings then foreign-owned ones (“over 80 points” range), while 5 foreign banks are “outsiders” with CG Ratios in the range “less than 30”. In general it can be stated that the level of corporate governance in Ukrainian banking is in the initial phase, internal and state regulation should be introduced in order international practices to be put into action.