Accounting and Control in Banks

This chapter addresses the gap by identifying and analyzing present knowledge on accounting and control in banks, examines how this research has developed over the time period studied, and proposes some possible avenues for future research. It analyzes the literature studied by applying the reasoning contained in the Fredrik Nilsson and Anna-Karin Stockenstrand framework. The framework supports an empirical categorization of studies using a top-down perspective of banks from regulation, to governance, to financial reporting, and to internal aspects of banks. The Financial and Accounting Regulation category address several issues affecting accounting and control in the banking sector. E. Bengtsson identifies increased political influences on international accounting standard-setting as well as International Accounting Standards Board governance and accountability structures following the 2007 crisis. The financial reporting and disclosure literature addresses issues surrounding risk assessment, investor decision-usefulness, valuation, and governance. The literature on bank visibility addresses bank architecture as well as bank profits and their influence on legitimacy.