Governance and financial stability: Evidence in banks in southeast Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The global economy, including the banking sector in the ASEAN region, has experienced significant impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand its impact more deeply, this research aims to evaluate banking stability and performance during the pandemic period, with a focus on risk governance and financial factors. A total of 272 banks in the ASEAN region were included in this study, using specific criteria depicting risk governance and financial factors. The research findings indicate a positive relationship between risk governance factors (RC, RCS, RCM and CRO) towards Financial Sustainability. The implications of these findings not only have theoretical relevance in understanding banking dynamics during crisis periods but also have important practical implications for decision-makers in the banking sector and financial regulation. Further discussion on theoretical and practical implications is provided, offering a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities in maintaining financial sustainability in the context of uncertain economic situations, such as those brought about by the global pandemic.