Abstract:

This study examined the effect of risk management practices on shareholders’ return of quoted commercial banks in Nigeria. Cross sectional data were sourced from financial statements of commercial banks and Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical bulletin from various years. Shareholders return was proxied by return on equity and return on assets while risk management practices were modeled by bank risk diversification, Basel risk compliance, credit monitoring and credit appraisal. Panel data methodology was employed while the fixed effects model was used as an estimation technique at 5% level of significance. Fixed effects, random effects and pooled estimates were tested while the Hausman test was used to determine the best fit of the regression model. Panel unit root and panel co-integration analysis were conducted on the study. The study found that 60 per cent variations in return on equity of the quoted commercial banks can be traced to variations in risk management practices as formulated in the regression model. The beta coefficient of the risk management practices proved that risk diversification, Basel compliance, credit monitoring and credit appraisal methods as formulated in the regression model have positive effect on return on equity of the commercial banks. In the model II, 47.6 percent variations in return on assets of the quoted commercial banks can be traced to variations in risk management practices as formulated in the regression model. The beta coefficient of the risk management practices proved that risk diversification, Basel compliance, credit monitoring and credit appraisal methods as formulated in the regression model have positive effect on return on equity of the commercial banks. The study concludes that risk management practices have a positive effect on shareholders’ return. The study recommends that commercial banks managements should ensure that all the board members and executive managements amongst other stakeholders are trained to appreciate the functions and responsibilities of credit risk management. The study recommends also that banks should ensure that their credit exposures are adequately secured through proper scrutiny of loan processing in order to identify viable projects so as to reduce loan defaults by bank customers.