Corporate Governance in Russia: A Case Study of Timeliness of Financial Reporting in the Telecom Industry

Abstract

The present study focuses on the timeliness of financial reporting, which is an element of transparency. Specifically, it looks at the telecommunications industry in Russia and computes the number of days it takes companies to receive an audit opinion, then compares the time lag to the number of days it takes non-Russian companies in the telecommunications industry to receive an audit opinion. The study concludes that Russian companies take longer to report financial results than do non-Russian companies. Larger Russian companies take less time to report their financial condition than do small Russian firms, but the difference is not significant. The same was true for the non-Russian companies included in the sample. Companies using Russian Accounting Standards took significantly less time to report financial results than did companies using either International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Companies using IFRS took significantly longer to report financial results than did companies using US GAAP. The dominant auditor in the Russian telecommunications industry did not complete audits in significantly less time than did nondominant auditors. Although Russian companies take far less time to issue financial statements now than they did a few years ago, it is premature to definitively conclude that the improvement is significant due to the limited data set.

Citation

McGee, R.W. (2006), "Corporate Governance in Russia: A Case Study of Timeliness of Financial Reporting in the Telecom Industry", Choi, J.J. and Click, R.W. (Ed.) Value Creation in Multinational Enterprise (International Finance Review, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 365-390. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1569-3767(06)07015-4