We investigate how board oversight of U.S. banks has improved since the 2008 financial crisis. Several government-mandated committees have highlighted four key deficiencies with bank boards before the crisis: (i) group think among bank board members; (ii) absence of prior banking experience of...

We examine the effect of lending banks' board representation (affiliated banker on board, or AFB) on conservative accounting. We argue that private information obtained through board representation enhances the monitoring and the influence of lenders and therefore reduces their demand for...