FINANCIAL REGULATIONS AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE OF DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

reserve requirements, leverage requirements, and provisions policy. Banking performance was assessed using metrics such as banking efficiency (via DEA and operational efficiency ratio), banking stability (ABSI and Z-score indexes), credit risk (non-performing loans and provisions for non-performing loans), and profitability (return on assets and return on equity). Their panel data analysis, incorporating pooled regression, fixed effects, and random effects models, revealed a significant impact of banking regulations on banking efficiency, stability, credit risk, and profitability. Ibe and Agwu (2020) found that changes in the MPR directly affect the cost of borrowing and lending rates, thereby influencing banks' profitability. Higher MPRs tend to reduce loan demand due to increased borrowing costs, negatively affecting banks' interest income and overall profitability. Similarly, Adegboye and Fakunmoju (2018) examined the relationship between MPR and bank performance and concluded that while higher MPRs can increase interest margins, they may also lead to reduced loan uptake and higher default rates, thus impacting profitability adversely. Uche et al. (2019) found that a higher LDR positively impacts bank profitability by increasing interest i