Financial Expertise’s and Corporate Social Disclosure: Evidence from Financial Firms

Recently, there has been an increasing acknowledgment of the significance of incorporating sustainability considerations into corporate governance frameworks, notably in the financial sector, for its transparency, fiscal responsibility, and ethical business practices. As a result, this study investigates the influence of financial expertise on sustainability disclosure practices, and corporate governance mechanisms in financial firms in Nigeria. This study adopts an ex-post facto research design; population of this study covers the twenty-five (25) financial firms’ in Nigeria. Data were obtained from annual report, on these banks for the period of five (5) years, 2019 to 2023, the result of this were subjected to regression analysis. The result of findings indicated the t-statistic and corresponding significance level Financial experts’ shown that the relationship between the independent variables collectively show strong positive correlations with each of its individual components and dependent variable. On this note, this study recommends that the financial expertise, including sustainability and environmental knowledge. To enhance their understanding of sustainability disclosure practices, training and resources should be provided to financial experts on the board should have experience in sustainability reporting and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters. Finally, Nigerian deposit money banks should prioritize transparency and disclosure in their sustainability reporting, ensuring that stakeholders have access to accurate and reliable information about their environmental, social, and governance practices. This would help to promote transparency, accountability, and comparability across Nigerian financial firms.