Assessing the Effectiveness of Fraud Risk Management Practices in the Banking Sector of Ghana

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Assessing the Effectiveness of Fraud Risk Management Practices in the Banking Sector of Ghana DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FRAUD RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN THE BANKING SECTOR OF GHANA BY ANDY OWUSU ASOMANING INDEX NUMBER: 10637153 E-MAIL: [email protected] A LONG ESSAY SUMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTERS DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (FINANCE OPTION) JULY, 2019 I DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original research and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this University or elsewhere. ………………………………… .………………………… ANDY OWUSU ASOMANING DATE (10637153) ii CERTIFICATION I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by the University of Ghana. ……………………………………. .........……………………….. LORDINA AMOAH (PhD) DATE (SUPERVISOR) iii DEDICATION To God Almighty and my family iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My utmost appreciation goes to my supervisor who helped in the review and assessment of this dissertation. I am grateful for her comments, important critique and evaluation which helped me to complete this work successfully. I am also grateful to my family especially my parents who have been a solid rock in my life and also all relatives and individuals for their unflinching support and encouragement in the past years. v ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of fraud risk management practices in the banking sector of Ghana. The structured questionnaire was used as the main research instrument. Items in the questionnaire were measured on a five-point ranking scale. Both local and foreign universal banks in Ghana, were included study. A total of 100 employees, 50 from the local banks, and another 50 from the foreign banks, were sampled through purposive and convenient sampling techniques. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present and analyze the collected data. From the findings of the study, it was revealed that, the level of exposure to both internal and external fraud risk by the universal banks was very low. Largely the banks implemented fraud risk management practices by putting in place strategies in the area of sound risk management environment, policies and procedures and risk mitigation. The banks were highly effective in the management of fraud risk leading to improvement in the performance of the banks. Having a sound risk management environment, policies and procedures, coupled with an effective risk mitigation strategy, mainly contributed to the overall effectiveness of the universal banks in the management of fraud risk. High cost in the implementation of fraud risk management practices was the main challenge facing the universal banks in fraud risk management. The banks are encouraged to invest more in modern software tools, so as to control the incidence of fraud risks. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ ii CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the Study……………………………………………………………….. 1 1.2 Statement of Problem…………………………………………………………………... 2 1.3 Objectives of the Study……………………………………………………………………..4 1.4 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………...4 1.5 Analysis of Data………………………………………………………………………….. 5 1.6 Significance of Study……………………………………………………………………5 1.7 Scope and Limitation of study……………………………………………………. 6 1.8 Organisation of Study…………………………………………………………………... 7 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 8 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 8 2. 2 Theoretical Literature ……………………………………………………………. 8 vii 2.2.1 The Concept of Fraud……………..………………………………………………… 9 2.2.2 Types of Fraud………………………………………………………..……………... 9 2.2.3 Causes of Fraud…….………………………………………………………………...14 2.2.4 Methods of Fraud by Perpetrators…………………………………………………… 15 2.2.5 Fraud Prevention and Detection………..……………………………………………… 15 2.2.6 Risk Management…………………………………………………………………….16 CHAPTER THREE................................................................................................................. 24 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................................. 24 3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 24 3.2 Research Design……………………………………………………………………. 24 3.3 Population, sampling technique and sample size.……………………………….. 26 3.3.1 Target Population……..……………………………………………………………. 26 3.3.2 Sampling Technique…………………………………………………………………… 27 3.3.3 Sample Size…….………………………………………………………………... 27 3.4 Data Collection Instrument………………………………………………………. 29 CHAPTER FOUR.................................................................................................................... 32 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................................................................ 32 4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 32 4.2 Demographic Profile of Respondents…………………………………………….. 32 4.2.1 Gender Distribution of Respondents……………………………………………. 32 4.2.2 Age Distribution of Respondents…………….…………………………………. 33 4.2.3 Educational Qualification……………..………………………………………. 34 4.2.4 Position Held……………………………………………………………………34 4.2.5 Job Tenure……………………………………………………………………35 viii 4.3 Degree of Exposure of Fraud Risk among selected Universal Banks in Ghana……..36 4.4 Fraud Risk Management Practices of Universal banks in Ghana………………..38 4.5 Effectiveness of Fraud Risk Management of Universal Banks in Ghana……………..41 4.6 Challenges of Universal Banks in Fraud Risk Management………………………43 4.7 Discussion of Results……………………………………………………………….45 CHAPTER FIVE ..................................................................................................................... 47 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................... 47 5.1 Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 47 5.2 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………. 49 5.3 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………… 50 5.4 Limitations of the study……………..……………………………………………… 51 5.5 Further Studies……………………………………………………………………….51 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………… 52 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 59 ix x CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Regardless of the vast amount of resources, time and energy, used by universal banks in developing corporate governance policies, implementing internal control systems, risk management strategies and the training of employees in order to adhere to best practices, some dishonest, intelligent people, commonly referred to as fraudsters, still manage to find ways to override systems to gain access to organizational resources and assets (Rahman & Salim, 2010). This results in operational risk in the form of fraud. Operational risk is therefore the initial type of risk that any institution of any sort takes on. Managing and mitigating the operational risk of an organization is a very significant challenge for managers in top positions. The study examines the effectiveness of fraud risk management practices by both foreign and local universal banks in Ghana. Fraud in recent times, has evolved from being committed casually to being highly organized and sophisticated (Rahmana & Anwar, 2014). This particular problem is more prevalent in the banking sector where there are more sophisticated compromises as compared to other sectors. It is therefore important for banks to develop comprehensive systems and practices to effectively manage fraud risk (Fadipe-Joseph & Titiloye, 2012). Fraud can be grouped into two main categories. The first category is fraudulent financial reporting, known as management fraud, and the second category is the misappropriation of assets, also a known as employee fraud (Adams, 2015). Both categories of fraud are I particularly harmful to actual and potential users (Hakami, 2011), and may cause materially misleading financial statements. This study will however, emphasise the activities of fraud leading to the issuance of false financial statements. Additionally, fraud imposes numerous costs to both its financial and non-financial victims (Rahman & Salim, 2010). For the banking financial institutions, they might suffer loss in terms of monetary transactions, reputational risks, and human capital, including the acquaintance to the risks of bankruptcy
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