An Overview of Corporate Governance Practice in Companies Listed on the Libyan Stock Market

The corporate governance concept has recently become a major issue in the corporate practices of both developed and developing countries alike. Corporate governance is considered to be a tremendously important topic in many countries around the world; specifically within the emerging stock markets in order to protect the minority of shareholders. The aim of this research is to investigate corporate governance practices in companies listed on the Libyan stock exchange. In particular, to investigate whether corporate governance practices in these companies meet international standards of corporate governance and to identify the main obstacles to implementing them. The concept of corporate governance, corporate governance practices in developing countries, the Libyan stock market and OECD principles of corporate governance were discussed. A close-ended questionnaire was the main method for data collection. 100 questionnaires were distributed to the participants of the study, and only 76 questionnaires usable for analysis were received. Several issues related to corporate governance, depending on OCED principles, were investigated. The results revealed that corporate governance practice in the companies under investigation fit with OCED principles of corporate governance in some aspects and do not fit in others. Furthermore, the most important obstacles were perceived impeding corporate governance practice in companies listed in the Libyan stock market are "lack of compliance with the laws governing the work of companies" and "high cost of applying corporate governance rules". (JEL G30) Keywords: Corporate governance, the Libyan stock exchange, developing countries, OCED principles of corporate governance