The relevance of compliance audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements

Purpose This paper examines the relevance of compliance audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements with special reference to the case of companies registered in the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), Oman. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a direct measure of compliance prescribed and published in the annual report of Capital Market Authority (CMA) and its executive regulation from period 2011 to 2019. Findings The finding shows that there is a positive association with audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements that enrich companies to ensures adherence to regulatory guidelines of Oman. Practical implications The key limitation of the study is that it depends on a transparency indicator from a secondary source. Further, this might encourage companies to appoint qualified compliance officer which will be a value addition for best practice of corporate governance (CG) of the organizations. Originality/value The evidence recommends that audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements is a significant factor that helps the company to enhance its financial performance and provides assurance to the government that the company follows applicable rules and regulations. It also recommends that the appointment of designated compliance officer assures adherence to companies’ regulatory guidelines of Oman. Besides, conducting research in audit on companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines of financial statements brings novelty in the literature in emerging countries. As per best knowledge of the researchers, there has been no empirical study (within the literature) observed, which inspires much encouragement to do this study.