Corporate Fraud Control And Prevention Systems In Commercial Banks

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would be beneficial to the management of commercial banks, bank customers, investors and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Enugu State. The result of this study would also be of immense benefit to the teachers and students of Business  Education  in  tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Firstly, the findings of this study would assist the management of commercial banks to establish stronger defences against fraudulent activities. The frequency of fraud occurrence in the banks as well as losses would be drastically reduced by enhancing the utilization and effectiveness of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in  the  banks. The findings of this study would also enable commercial bank managers to evolve more sustainable risk management policies against fraudulent activities. The accountants would be able to control corporate risks effectively with improved capacity in fraud risk management. The findings of this study would assist the commercial bank managers to improve their capacity building initiatives for banking services especially for fraud control and prevention. The result of this study would also enable the credit and loan managers of commercial banks to achieve their financial targets and corporate governance goals through extensive and effective utilization of the fraud control and prevention systems in the banks.

The awareness of the availability, the extent of utilization and the effectiveness of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in the commercial banks would enhance the customers’ trust and confidence in the commercial banks. The customers’ patronage of bank products and services would also increase. Fresh customers would also join the present customers of the commercial banks to patronize the banks’ products and services.  The  general business and profit of the commercial banks would, therefore, increase through improved customer patronage of bank services.

Investors in Enugu state would also benefit from the findings of this study. An understanding of commercial banks’ capacity in fraud control and prevention would assist the investors in their investment decisions. The present investors of commercial banks would be encouraged to maintain their investments in the banks while prospective investors would be stimulated to make fresh investments in the banks. The outcome of this study would also    help to improve the commercial banks’ returns on investments to the investors.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Enugu state would also gain from the findings of this study, especially as it concerns the effectiveness and utilization of the fraud control and prevention systems in commercial banks in Enugu State. The findings of this study would assist the ministry in  its  campaign for efficient banking services and operations in the  state.  The  findings of this study would assist the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on making policies that would encourage effective participation of the commercial banks in economic development of the state. Better corporate governance practices that would arise from the findings of this study would increase the commercial banks economic, environmental and social responsibilities  in  Enugu state.

The outcome of this study would significantly be of immense benefit to both the teachers and students of Business Education in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The result of this study would assist them in the teaching and learning  of the subject. Curriculum experts in Business Education would use the facts of the findings in curriculum planning and review. The graduates of Business Education would be guided by the outcome of this study in the teaching and practice of fraud control and prevention in their different places of work especially as it affects the availability, the extent of utilization and the effectiveness of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in commercial banks and other corporate organisations in Nigeria.

Finally, the results of the study would be a significant addition to the literature base of corporate fraud control and prevention systems in commercial banks in Nigeria. The findings of the study would provide much empirical evidence on the adequacy, extent of utilization and effectiveness of corporate fraud control and prevention systems in the commercial banks. The findings of this study would also provide a better understanding of the theoretical basis of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems utilized in  commercial  banks and other corporate organisations.

Research Questions

The following research questions were answered for this study:

1. What are the corporate fraud control systems available in commercial banks in Enugu state?

2. What are the corporate fraud prevention systems available in commercial banks in Enugu state?

3. To what extent are the corporate fraud control systems utilized in the commercial banks?

4. To what extent are the corporate fraud prevention systems utilized in the commercial banks?

5. How effective are the corporate fraud control systems in controlling frauds in the commercial banks?

6. How effective are the corporate fraud prevention systems in preventing frauds in the commercial banks? 

7. What are the problems encountered by the commercial banks in the utilization of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems?

8. What are the strategies for enhancing the effective utilization of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in the  commercial  banks?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses formulated for this study were tested at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of management staff in new and old generation banks on the extent of utilization  of the corporate fraud control systems in the commercial banks.

Ho2: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of management staff in new and old generation banks on the extent  of utilization of the corporate fraud prevention systems in the commercial banks.

Ho3: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of management staff in new and old generation banks on the effectiveness of the corporate fraud control systems in controlling frauds in the commercial banks.

Ho4: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of management staff in new and old generation banks on the effectiveness of the corporate fraud prevention systems in preventing frauds in the commercial banks.

Ho5: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of management staff in new and old generation banks on the

problems encountered by the commercial banks in the utilization of the corporate fraud control and prevention systems.

Delimitation of the Study

This study was delimited to the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in commercial banks in Enugu state. No attempt was made to  investigate the corporate fraud control and prevention systems in commercial banks in other states of the federation of Nigeria.