Abstract
This study examines financial regulation and banking sector performance in Nigeria. Specifically, the study determines the impact of reforms on banking sector performance and also assesses the nexus between capital adequacy and banking sector performance. Time series data for the period 1993 to 2014 was used. As an analytical tool, the study uses unit root test to determine the stationary state of the variables. We also employed the Johansson co-integration and error correction model (ECM) statistical techniques to establish both short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between the endogenous and exogenous variables. The empirical findings indicate that financial regulation significantly impacts the banking sector performance while financial regulation has both short-run and long-run dynamic relationships with the banking sector performance in Nigeria. It was found that the four-period lag of capital adequacy negatively affects banking sector performance and is not statistically significant. The paper suggests that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should continually make public the impacts that the various financial regulations and reforms have on the performance of Nigerian banks. Majority of the policies on financial regulation by the apex bank (CBN) need to be long-run which can enable confidence of stakeholders, shareholders and the general public in the Nigerian banking industry when critically evaluated.