Empirical Study on the Effect of Adopting the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the Quality of Earnings using Beneish Model in a Sample of Banks Listed in the Iraqi Stock Exchange

Abstract

The need for international financial reporting standards (IFRS) emerged due to the increasing degree of interdependence between global capital markets and the need for investors to obtain reliable and honest financial information in expressing economic events, in order to find a common financial language, and this is what IFRS provide. Nevertheless, the research aimed to measure the impact of the adoption of IFRS on the quality of earnings in the Iraqi banks listed in the Iraqi Stock Exchange for a sample of 30 banks. The Beneish model was used to measure the quality of earnings, while Mann-Whitney was used to measure and prove the hypothesis of the research. However, the research reached a set of conclusions, including that although the IFRS should contribute to improving the quality of financial reporting, the adoption of these standards in commercial banks listed in the Iraq Stock Exchange did not contribute to achieving quality in earnings even after adopting those standards. Furthermore, a Beneish model is an important tool for auditors, financial analysts, investors, and creditors who have the ability to understand the financial statements or those who have a reasonable understanding of the nature of those financial statements in measuring the quality of earnings, because it is a simple and easy to implement tool.