Audit Committee and Dividend Policy of Financial Firms in Malaysia

Abstract

The corporate governance structure encompasses a set of guidelines meticulously crafted to ensure that a firm operates in a manner that diligently safeguards the interests of all stakeholders. In this study, the authors examine the role of audit committee in the dividend policy of Malaysian financial firms. They collect data from a sample comprising 40 financial institutions, spanning a 13-year period from 2010 to 2022. The empirical findings gleaned from this study unequivocally affirm a statistically significant relationship between the existence of audit committee and the formulation of dividend policies within these financial institutions. Notably, audit committees have been revealed to exert a robust and statistically significant influence on dividend policy within these financial institutions. The implications of these findings extend beyond the confines of academia; they hold substantial relevance for regulatory bodies, financial institutions themselves, and their shareholders in the Malaysian context.