Professional Ethics and Quality of Financial Report of Nigerian Deposit Money Banks

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of professional ethics on the quality of financial reporting on Nigerian deposit money banks. The study looked at the effect of objectivity, integrity, independence, professional competence and due care, and professional behavior on quality of financial reporting amongst deposit money banks in Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was utilized to conduct the study. The target population of this study was deposit money banks in Nigeria while purposive sampling technique was used to select 8 of the banks that has international recognition. The study targeted 120 respondents to participate in the study and questionnaires were used as tools to collect data from respondents. The questionnaire was sent to accountant, auditors and managers distributed over all the 8 deposit money banks and soft copies of the questionnaire was sent to them using several information technology platforms. Study results established that objectivity, integrity, independence, professional comepetence and due care and professional behavior all had positive and significant effect on timeliness (TML) (Adjusted R2 = 0.805, F = 76.815, p less than.05) and verifiability (VRF) (Adjusted R2 = 0.735, F = 52.065, p less than.05). The study recommends that management of deposit money banks should ensure that their accountants are professionals and that employment of staff should only be by merit. The management should also focus more on on-the-job training opportunities for employees.