TY - JOUR T1 - Surplus Free Cash Flow and the Effect of Corporate Governance on the Informativeness of Earnings AU - Al-Dhamari, Redhwan Ahmed AU - Bt Ku Ismail, Ku Nor Izah JO - International Business Management VL - 7 IS - 3 SP - 214 EP - 228 PY - 2013 DA - 2001/08/19 SN - 1993-5250 DO - ibm.2013.214.228 UR - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=ibm.2013.214.228 KW - ownership structure KW -governance structure KW -Earnings informativeness KW -surplus free cash flow KW -Bursa Malaysia AB - This study examines whether the association between selected governance variables and earnings informativeness depends on surplus free cash flow agency problem in the Malaysian environment where concentrated shareholding by family members is common and minority investor protection is relatively weak. The results find that boards with a higher proportion of independent directors and competent audit committees are more likely to report informative earnings numbers. We also demonstrate that firms with independent chairman, small boards and high surplus free cash flow experience informative earnings figures. However, in contradiction to the expectation are the negative influence of audit committee meetings, audit committee competence and shareholding by executive directors when agency problems of surplus free cash flow are high. The findings of this study suggest regulatory bodies to design corporate governance code that is suitable for Malaysian environment and can help regaining investors’ confidence towards accounting and financial information. ER -