The influence of business group control over firm disclosure in offshore financial centres: Evidence from the Caribbean

Using a unique, hand-collected sample of 169 firms in the Caribbean region, this paper explores an interrelationship between business group (BG) control, institutional factors and firm-level transparency in offshore financial centres. Our analysis shows that BG control is positively associated with the degree of information disclosure in these generally secretive jurisdictions. This relationship is moderated by the contingency factors associated with formal and informal institutions on various levels, such as the firm belonging to offshore financial services multinational enterprise industry and the quality of formal institutions in a specific jurisdiction. • Business Group control is associated with increased subordinate/constituent firm transparency. • Business group constituent firms located in offshore financial centers have reduced transparency. • Business group constituent firms that are also offshore financial multinational enterprises (exporting offshore competencies) have reduced transparency. • Business group firms located in jurisdictions with higher national institutional quality have markedly lower transparency – an unexpected finding from prior literature. • Our study sheds light on the key institutional components which determine the supply-side of offshore financial services and addresses shortfall in literature which has studied demand-side only.