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This study aims to comprehensively examine the stock market effects of announcements by firms to issue conventional bonds versus Sukuk. In addition, the authors investigate whether the choice of instrument depends on the tax status and government backing of the issuing firm. They split the sample into whole (2000-2015), pre-crisis (2000-2007) and post-crisis (2010-2015) subsamples.

The authors use event study methodology, market model and FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS index on 14 different event windows of which five are symmetric and nine are asymmetric. Further, parametric and distribution-free tests are used to investigate the difference of cumulative abnormal returns when using the two instruments (Sukuk and conventional bonds). For the choice of issuing conventional bonds or Sukuk, Heckman procedure is employed to control for the self-selection of the announcement effects.

The analysis indicates only insignificant difference in reaction to Sukuk and conventional bond issuances for the overall period and pre-crisis period. However, and importantly, they find strong evidence supporting the Malaysian stock abnormal return reaction to Sukuk compared to conventional bond issuances after the global financial crisis. Interestingly, they find that tax incentives and government backing are significant determinants in issuing Sukuk over conventional bonds. Such evidence is confirmed when using a wide range of robustness checks including four different market indices and both parametric and non-parametric tests.

The empirical analysis is subject to limitations. First, the sample is limited to Sukuk issues domiciled in Malaysia. Second, given that Sukuk are collateralized whereas conventional bonds are not, it would only seem logical for the former to be issued by riskier firms whereas the latter would be issued by stronger firms with stable cash flows. The future research can explore this issue some more. Finally, comparing Sukuk with other similar ethical sources of traded capital may provide insights into the globalization of such economic, trade and financial reforms in and outside Malaysia.

To the author’s knowledge, no research has been conducted studying the differential and conflicting results to announcement of Sukuk issuance in the literature, nor the stock market effects of announcements to issue Sukuk over the pre-crisis (2000-2007) and post-crisis (2010-2015) periods. Thus, the study attempts to assess previous findings and contribute additional evidence that investigates the issue in rich setting.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the international diversification benefits of Islamic bonds (Sukuk) for equity investors in conventional stock markets. The authors compare the diversification benefits of these securities with their conventional alternatives from advanced and emerging markets. Compared to conventional bonds, Sukuk are backed by tangible assets and carry both bond and stock-like features. Furthermore, the Sharia-based limitations limit the risk in these securities as a result of ethical investing rules. The regime-based model provides insight to possible segmentation (or integration) of these securities from global markets during different market states.

Risk spillover effects across conventional and Islamic stock and bond markets are examined using a Markov regime-switching GARCH model with dynamic conditional correlations (MS-DCC-GARCH). Weekly return series for conventional (advanced and emerging) and Islamic stock and bond indices are examined within a regime-dependent specification that takes into account low, high, and extreme volatility states. The DCC are then used to establish alternative diversified portfolios formed by supplementing conventional and Islamic equities with conventional and Islamic bonds one at a time.

Asymmetric shocks are observed from conventional stocks and bonds into Islamic bonds (Sukuk). Compared to emerging market bonds, Sukuk are found to display a different pattern in the transmission of global market shocks. The analysis of dynamic correlations suggests a low degree of association between Islamic bonds and global stock markets with episodes of negative correlations observed, particularly during market crisis periods. Portfolio performance analysis suggests that Islamic bonds provide valuable diversification benefits that are not possible to obtain from conventional bonds.

This study provides comprehensive analysis of volatility interactions and dynamic correlations across Islamic and conventional markets within a regime-based framework and provides insight to whether these securities could serve as safe havens or diversifiers for global investors. The findings have significant implications for global diversification strategies, particularly during market crisis periods.

This paper aims to explore whether the market perceives liquid international sovereign sukūk as distinct from comparable bonds and as an asset class of their own that could shield investors against turbulences in the bond markets.

If sukūk and bonds belong to the same asset class, then basically the same supply and demand factors determine inverstors’ activities in both markets. This should lead to matching patterns of yield curves for sukūk and bonds comparable in terms of issuers, maturity, currency, size, liquidity and rating. Only a rough analysis of holding and trading patterns of conventional and Islamic sukūk investors was possible, as most sukūk market transactions are “over-the-counter” and not registered in the Bloomberg database. However, price information could be used for an analysis of yield curves of liquid sovereign sukūk and comparable bonds.

Conventional investors participate in the sukūk market, but their influence on prices is rather small, as they act primarily as intermediaries (i.e. market makers) as opposed to price setters. The yield curves of the selected bonds and sukūk widely match. This suggests that bonds and liquid sovereign sukūk belong to the same asset class. Furthermore, as turbulences in conventional markets are also reflected in the sukūk markets, Islamic investors themselves play a role in the transmission.

The study of holding patterns and of the market perception of sovereign sukūk and bonds required a focus on four countries with deep and (potentially) liquid sukūk markets (Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia and Hong Kong) and US$-denominated international securities. Some suitable combinations of sukūk and bonds are relatively young issuances with time series data for two to three years only. Data on holding patterns are sketchy and require interpretations based on market knowledge.

Parallel yield curves indicate that conventional investors do not perceive international sovereign sukūk as an asset class of their own distinct from conventional government bonds. This market perception of liquid international sovereign sukūk could have an impact on other types of sukūk (e.g. on international corporate sukūk) if sovereign sukūk are taken as pricing and performance benchmarks.

The paper sheds light on institutional investor behavior in the bond and sukūk markets and outlines data availability issues that constrain quantitative analyses in over-the-counter markets.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the connectedness across a variety of Sukuk and conventional bond indices and the implications for optimal asset allocation for the period January 1, 2010–April 30, 2020.

The data set consists of five major Sukuk (Dow Jones Sukuk, Thompson Reuters BPA Malaysia Sukuk, Indonesia Government Sukuk, S&P MENA Sukuk and Tadawul Sukuk and Bonds Index) and five conventional bond indexes, one for developed (USA) and four for emerging markets (Malaysia, Indonesia, Africa and Qatar). This study investigates the connectedness and volatility spillover effects across the aforementioned indices, by following the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) approach, based on the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model. In addition, this paper provides optimal hedge ratios and portfolio weights for investors.

The empirical results show that Sukuk and conventional bond markets are highly integrated and that total connectedness exhibits sensitivity to exogenous shocks. The Dow Jones and the Malaysian Sukuk indices are the primary shock transmitters to other markets. However, the weak volatility spillovers between the Dow Jones and conventional bonds suggest that opportunities for optimal asset allocation may in fact exist. The highest (lowest) hedging effectiveness can be achieved by taking a short position in Malaysian (Qatarian) bonds.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the largest sample taken into account to investigate the connectedness between Sukuk and conventional bonds.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the default characteristics of Sukuk issues by corporate firms in Malaysia using value-at-risk (VaR) techniques over a period of 16 years from 2000 to 2015 and across nine economic sectors.

The paper employs non-parametric and Monte Carlo simulations to estimate Sukuk defaults.

The authors analyses revealed that the VaR predictions were fairly consistent with the ratings provided by credit rating agencies, despite the limited tradability of Sukuk in the secondary market. The study was able to demonstrate that Sukuk is not riskier than conventional bonds in the Malaysian context.

The research findings suggested that VaR values will depend on the fundamental value of a firm based on the considerations of market, credit and operational risk. It does not rely on the type of debt instrument, whether a Sukuk or conventional bonds.

The use of Sukuk along with conventional bonds as debt instruments creates opportunities for investors and bond issuers globally.

Although Sukuk has generated much interest among financial market players, studies are lacking on how to predict Sukuk defaults and whether Sukuk has the same risk profile compared to conventional bonds.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence that Sukuk are different from conventional bonds from risk perspective. This study is about the comparative risk analysis of Sukuk and conventional bonds in Pakistan.

Sample consists of 15 Sukuk and 30 Term Finance Certificates issued in Pakistan. Value at risk is deployed by using delta normal approach to calculate risk. Two portfolios are formed separately with equal investment of ₹3m to explore the maximum loss an investor would have in portfolio of Sukuk and conventional bonds separately.

Results revealed that Sukuk are less risky and more stable instrument as compared to conventional bonds. Risk and stability of Sukuk are explained with diversification theory and liquidity perspective. It is found that correlation among most of Sukuk securities are less or negative, which help in diversifying their risk. However, the attribute of stability can be due to the few days of trading in case of Sukuk comparatively.

Literature has explored the operational differences between conventional and Islamic bonds on theoretical basis. However, few studies explain their differences empirically especially with respect to risk in case of Pakistan where debt market is developing. Therefore, the originality of this research lies within its comparative investigation of risk for two securities that are different from their operational perspectives.

The global sukuk market has seen widespread innovations in the last couple of decades, which helped sukuk develop into one of the most acceptable Islamic instruments for raising finance. According to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (2018–19), United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ranked second among Islamic economies and Nasdaq Dubai is credited to be the leading international center for sukuk listings (Thomson Reuters, 2018). However, there has been limited research studies on this financing option within the region. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to focus on the role of signaling theory driving the financing choice for listed entities in the UAE. The paper aims to make a significant contribution in light of the recent expansion of sukuk issuances and fills the lacuna in research carried out in the UAE bond market.

This study empirically tested the hypotheses on a data set that covered a sample of 1,354 bond issuances over the period 2008–2019. The authors used logistic regression to distinguish between the issuance of sukuk versus conventional bond. Sukuk structuration leads to information asymmetry that prompts firms to send signals to the capital market. Information asymmetry has been studied in terms of issue-specific (maturity and issue size) and issuer-specific (firm size, growth, profitability, leverage) variables. Two control variables were included to capture the years under study and the macroeconomic effects of economic slowdown.

The banking sector accounted for 93% of bond issuances but contributed only 63% of the bond market in the UAE in terms of issue size. The data evidenced that non-banking sukuk issuances expanded over the years, with participation from sectors like real estate, oil and gas, logistics and utilities and contributed 50% of issuances in the UAE sukuk market. Typically, firms with smaller asset sizes and higher financing requirements were found to favour sukuk. The banking sector revealed irrelevance of information asymmetry, as Islamic Banks were mandated to issue sukuk. Non-financial firms with high profits and high debts were prompted to prefer conventional bonds, in line with the adverse selection mechanism.

Although UAE’s sukuk market has existed for more than a decade, scant research has been carried out. Few studies exist for the GCC region that either concentrated on stock market reactions to issuances of Islamic versus conventional bonds or studied capital market characteristics of non-financial entities alone. This is the first study to focus on signaling theory and information asymmetry playing a role in the capital structure of all listed firms (banking and non-banking) issuing bonds in the UAE.

This study aims to analyze the causes and implications of legal uncertainty in the issuance of conventional municipal bonds in Indonesia and to draw lessons from Vietnam’s approach in providing better legal certainty.

This study adopts a normative legal method with a legislative approach and applies a comparative approach. Data sources involve primary and secondary legal materials from both Indonesia and Vietnam.

The legal uncertainty is caused by a lack of coherence and consistency in legislation. Based on Vietnam’s experience, Indonesia can gain valuable insights related to providing strong legal certainty for parties involved in issuing or investing through conventional municipal bonds.

This study focuses on the comparative legal analysis of conventional municipal bonds in Indonesia with Vietnam.

This research provides recommendations for the refinement of legislation regarding conventional municipal bonds to the government.

This study is related to legal certainty as a strategy to attract investment through municipal bonds and to ensure the municipal bond issuance process is transparent and efficient.

This study provides a comparative perspective on the issuance of municipal bonds in Indonesia, with a special focus on Vietnam, emphasizing the urgency of harmonization in legal regulation and the sustainability of legal certainty.

Sukuk is an innovative financial instrument with a flexible structure based on Islamic financial contracts, unlike a bond which is based on the structure of a loan imposed with interest. With the notion that sukuk differs considerably from the conventional bonds in terms of risks related to investment, this study aims to examine whether the sukuk market is different from conventional bond markets based on the value-at-risk (VaR) approach.

The VaR of a portfolio consists of sukuk and bond indices and is undertaken to determine whether there is any reduction in the VaR amount through the inclusion of the sukuk index in the portfolio. The analysis is undertaken based on the developed and emerging market bond and sukuk indices from January 2010 to December 2015.

This paper examines whether the VaR of sukuk market differs from conventional bond markets by using fundamental techniques. It was observed that the VaR amount of sukuk indices is comparatively much lower than the VaR of bond indices in all the cases. Including the sukuk index with each bond index can reduce the VaR of the portfolio by around 30 to 50 per cent for all the developed and emerging market bond indices.

This research is limited to covering six years of data. Nonetheless, it is able to provide findings which are believed to be useful for the market players.

This study unveils attractive opportunities in terms of diversification benefits of sukuk indices for international fixed-income portfolios.

The VaR method is a useful risk management tool. This study uses this method to emphasise the significant reduction of risks and diversification benefits that sukuk investment could offer by including it in the investment portfolio.

This study aims to examine the connectedness among green, Islamic and conventional financial markets from December 2008 to May 2021. Moreover, the impact of global factors on the connectedness of given financial markets is also observed.

This study first employed the time-varying parameter vector autoregressions (TVP-VAR) technique to explore the connectedness of markets. Second, This study utilized the wavelet coherence analysis to test the time-frequency impact of global factors in terms of implied volatilities of stock, oil, gold, currency and bond on the connectedness across financial markets.

This study finds Islamic stocks, sustainability index and S&P500 composite index are the net transmitters, whereas Sukuk, commodity index, bond market, clean energy and green bonds are the net recipient of spillovers. Time-varying features of green, Islamic and conventional financial markets are evident in system-wide connectedness. This study further evidenced that global factors drive the connectedness of financial markets, particularly during stressful times.

The findings of this study furnish significant implications for policymakers, regulatory authorities, investors, financial market participants and portfolio managers in terms of carefully assessing the unique characteristics offered by each financial market in terms of risk mitigation and diversifying the portfolios.

Using a portfolio of green, Islamic and conventional financial markets, the uniqueness of this study lies in the examination of the connectedness of these markets by deploying the TVP-VAR technique. In addition, wavelet analysis offers a significant contribution in terms of global factors driving the connectedness of green, Islamic and conventional markets.