AbstractLibya is a sovereign country in the North African Maghreb region. Currently, Libya does not have a central government that is legitimate, effective or both. As a result, alternative informal power settlements have taken shape across the country and have begun to deliver core government functions. In many areas of Libya, the' state' is present through its formal institutions but must share authority, legitimacy and capacity with informal power brokers such as tribal elders, military councils and militias. In order to reap the benefits of effective corporate governance, there is a need to strengthen the enforcement mechanism of the regulatory institutions in Libya. Libya is part of the M.E.N.A region (Middle East and North Africa) and its business life is dominated by social relations. Its law enforcement is not perfect. In practice, this weak general enforcement environment affects the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms. As far as the Libyan context is concerned, although legal enforcement of commercial disputes is heard in court because of the limiting effects of the Libyan Center for Reconciliation and Arbitration, time-consuming processes are often longer than in developed economies. This could cause local and foreign investors personal inconvenience. In the M.E.N.A region, enforcement is consistently patchy, and the judiciary is not sufficiently developed to respond to businessmen's complaints.
The main aim of this study is to investigate and provide an initial understanding of the practice of corporate governance in the developing economy, the case of Libya. The aim of this study is to explain the driving forces behind the development and current scenario of corporate governance and the Libyan regulatory institutions in post-colonial Libya. The study also provides unique historical evidence of the development of accounting regulations in a developing country independent of its colonial history. The study enhances our understanding of how the interaction between the political economy and the state's ideological basis determines the historical path of accounting as a basis for predicating the possible future direction of accounting development. This paper concludes the ability of regulators to combat related-party transactions, improve transparency and disclosure, and foster effective board outcomes will determine whether the next wave will be a powerful tide or just a splash. Strengthening corporate governance for listed companies was a logical starting point. Although there was no specific weakness in corporate governance due to the recent financial crash, it became clear that a significant number of investors were not sufficiently informed about their holdings and that the information provided by listed companies was inadequate and not subject to analyst coverage. As a result, increasing investor financial literacy, while improving the flow of information to the investment public, has quickly become the key priorities of the regional authorities. This is an important part of the story of how the first wave of corporate governance reforms took place in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in Libya.