ABSTRACT
This proposal is purely based on corporate governance and Bank failure in Nigeria and to see if a significant relationship exists between corporate governance and Banks failure.
Corporate governance, as a concept, can be viewed from at least two perspectives. The narrow view is concerned with the structures within a corporate entity or enterprise receives its basic orientation and direction.
The broad perspective is regarded as being the heart of both a market economy and a democratic society the narrow view perceives corporate governance in terms of issues relating to shareholder protection, management control and the popular principal-agency problems of economic theory. In contrast Sullivan (2000), a proponent of the broader perspectives, uses the examples of the resultant problems of the privatization crusade to prove that issues of institutional, legal and capacity building as well as the rule of law are at the very heart of corporate governance.
Relevant data were collected from the staff of eleven randomly selected commercial banks based in Lagos, using a well-structured questionnaire. The statistical technique for data analysis and test of hypothetical proposition is Pearson product coefficient of correlation(r.) The result of the findings revealed that the new code of corporate governance for Banks is adequate to curtail Bank distress and that improper risk management, corruption of Bank officials and over expansion of Banks are the key issues why Banks fail. The study concluded that Corporate Governance is necessary to the proper functioning of banks and that Corporate Governance can only prevent bank distress only if it is well implemented. Finally the study recommends: that corporate governance should be used as a tool to help stem the tide of distress, as it entails conformity with prudential guidelines of the government; the Central Bank and NDIC should enforce the need for all banks to have approved policies in all their operation areas and strong inspection division to enforce these policies; that government owes the country a patriotic duty to establish and sustain macroeconomic stability in order for the banking system to perform at its optimum capacity, economic and political stability can help prevent bank distress and more importantly, is the need for qualified staff in the banking system as this will enable the utilization of expertise, skill and care in the performance of duties by staff, this will lead to better performance.
Key words: Corporate Governance, Bank failure, Bank distress Central Banketc.