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This study aims to investigate the extent of Shariah compliance in wakalah sukuk and Shariah non-compliant risk disclosure in the sukuk documents and to analyse the risk management techniques associated with the disclosed risks.

This study uses qualitative document analysis as both data collection and analysis methods. The document analysis acts as a data collection method for 23 wakalah sukuk documents selected from 32 issuances of wakalah sukuk from 2017 to 2021. These sukuk documents were selected based on their availability from relevant websites. Document analysis, both content analysis and thematic analysis, were used to analyse the data. Codes were grounded from that data through keywords search of Shariah noncompliant risk and its risk management. Besides these, interviews were also conducted with four active industry players, i.e. two legal advisors of wakalah sukuk, a wakalah sukuk trustee and a sukuk institutional issuer. These interview data were analysed based on categorical themes, on the aspects of the extent of Shariah compliance in sukuk, and the participant’s views on the risk management techniques associated with the risks or used in the sukuk documents.

Overall, the findings reveal three types of Shariah non-compliant risks disclosed in the sukuk documents and seven risk management techniques associated with them. However, the disclosure and the risk management techniques can be considered minimal in contrast to the extent of Shariah compliance in a sukuk, i.e. Shariah compliance at the pre-issuance stage, ongoing stage and post-issuance stage. On top of these, it was also found from the interviews that not all risk management techniques are workable to manage Shariah non-compliant risk in sukuk. As a result, these findings suggest rigorous reviews of the existing Shariah non-compliance risk (SNCR) disclosures and risk management techniques by the relevant parties.

Sukuk documents used in the study are limited to corporate wakalah sukuk issued in Malaysia. Out of 32 issuances from 2015 to 2021, only 23 documents are available in relevant website. Thus, Shariah non-compliant risk disclosure and its risk management techniques analysed in this study are only limited in those documents.

The findings of this study suggest rigorous reviews on the existing Shariah non-compliance disclosures and risk management techniques. Other than these, future research in relation to uncommon risk management clauses, i.e. assurance, Shariah waiver and transfer of risk, are needed.

The insights presented in the analysis are of importance to sukuk issuers and the sukuk due diligence working group in enhancing the sukuk Shariah compliance and Shariah non-compliant risks disclosure and towards sukuk investors, in capturing and assessing Shariah non-compliant risks in a sukuk and to assist them to make informed investment decisions. More importantly, this study has found few areas of future study in relation to SNCR disclosures and SNCR risk management techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the voluntary implementation of an internal audit department (IAD) by municipalities has any influence on external auditors' opinions.

This study population comprises the 308 Portuguese municipalities, from which the authors extracted a sample of 179. Financial and audit reports were collected from the period under analysis (2014–2017). The sample was then divided into two groups: municipalities that had voluntarily implemented an IAD and those that had not. Internal audit departments were characterized according to their robustness – whether they were more or less robust. First, a descriptive statistical analysis of the dataset was performed to analyze the representativeness of the sample and to extract insights. To address the research questions, ordinal random effect regression models were considered.

Contrary to the authors' expectations, the voluntary implementation of an IAD had no influence on the audit report type. However, when the authors refined the approach to include the robustness of the IAD, it became clear that this variable does influence the report issued by the external auditor.

This paper contributes to the current literature by determining the effects of the robustness of IADs on municipality audit reports. As far as the authors know, this paper is novel. Since auditing plays an important role in the transparency of public financial statements and in promoting equity, this study shows that a robust IAD is an advantage in the pursuit of these goals.

This study aims to investigate whether auditors compromise their independence for economically important clients in family business settings.

The authors empirically examine the research question based on China for the years 2011 to 2020. The dependent variable is the auditors’ propensity to issue modified audit opinions, which is a proxy for auditor independence. The authors use relative client audit fees as a proxy for client importance. To address endogeneity issues in the selection of family firms, the authors use the two-stage least squares regression model and, subsequently, the propensity score matching and Hausman firm fixed effect modeling.

This study reveals that the propensity to issue modified audit opinions is positively correlated with client importance. Big-N auditors are more likely to issue modified audit opinions for their economically important family firm clients, whereas such evidence is not found for non-Big-N auditors. Results are consistent and robust to endogeneity test and sensitivity analysis.

This study enriches the literature on auditor independence and the effect of family firms’ ownership structure factors on audit reporting behavior for their economically important clients. Findings may prove useful for managers and practitioners interested in family business.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a global humanitarian challenge. This scourge has impacted people from all walks of life as well as every economic sector and activity, from travel to automotives, hotels to banking, and supply chain to retail. The pandemic has affected not only physical and mental health but also financial health. Studies have examined the pandemic's economic impact, but very few have examined its impact on personal finances. Efforts to contain the pandemic's spread, such as lockdowns, have resulted in suspended business operations throughout the world that have intensified joblessness. To prepare and protect people from such unforeseen situations, financial education and planning are necessary. We attempt to expand the evidence on this issue by applying a structural equation modelling approach to identify the mediating role of financial literacy programs in preparing and protecting household wealth against sudden worldwide setbacks. The research design is descriptive and exploratory using snowball sampling technique. The data was collected through an internet survey. In total, 400 survey responses were obtained. After testing the measurement model for key validity dimensions, the hypothesised causal relationships are examined in several path models. The results indicated that coronavirus awareness exerts a direct or indirect influence on the financial health of individuals through financial literacy. We conclude that financial literacy has a full mediating effect on the personal finance of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings not only contributed to the need and understanding of financial literacy but also have managerial implications. Financial literacy programs provide investment advice and suggestions which are actionable and also work to help individuals to come out stronger in terms of knowledge and skill set when the COVID-19 crisis passes.

With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is important to consider how young people are making sense of these tools in their everyday lives. Drawing on critical postdigital approaches to learning and literacy, this study aims to center the experiences and perspectives of young people who encounter and experiment with generative AI in their daily writing practices.

This critical case study of one digital platform – Character.ai – brings together an adolescent and adult authorship team to inquire about the intertwining of young people’s playful and critical perspectives when writing on/with digital platforms. Drawing on critical walkthrough methodology (Light et al., 2018), the authors engage digital methods to study how the creative and “fun” uses of AI in youths’ writing lives are situated in broader platform ecologies.

The findings suggest experimentation and pleasure are key aspects of young people’s engagement with generative AI. The authors demonstrate how one platform works to capitalize on these dimensions, even as youth users engage critically and artfully with the platform and develop their digital writing practices.

This study highlights how playful experimentation with generative AI can engage young people both in pleasurable digital writing and in exploration and contemplation of platforms dynamics and structures that shape their and others’ literate activities. Educators can consider young people’s creative uses of these evolving technologies as potential opportunities to develop a critical awareness of how commercial platforms seek to benefit from their users.

This study contributes to the development of a critical and humanist research agenda around generative AI by centering the experiences, perspectives and practices of young people who are underrepresented in the burgeoning research devoted to AI and literacies.

This study aims to investigate whether auditors compromise their independence for economically important clients in countries with a secrecy culture.

The authors empirically examine the research question based on a data set of 33 countries for the period from 1995 to 2018. The dependent variable is the auditors’ propensity to issue modified audit opinions, which is a proxy for auditor independence. The authors use relative client size as a proxy for client importance. The authors adopt the Heckman (1979) two-stage model to mitigate the potential endogeneity issue involved in the selection of Big-N auditors.

Using a large sample of firms and controlling for the firm- and country/region-level factors, this study reveals that both Big-N and non-Big-N auditors are more likely to issue modified audit opinions to clients located in countries with a strong secrecy culture relative to those located in other countries. However, Big-N auditors are more likely to issue modified audit opinions for their economically important clients with a secrecy culture relative to their other clients, while no or weaker evidence is found for non-Big-N auditors. The results are consistent and robust to endogeneity tests and sensitivity analyses.

This study enriches the literature by providing a new perspective on auditor independence that an auditor’s reporting behavior can vary depending on the client’s importance and auditor type, even under the same secrecy culture.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on managing the risk of fraud in commercial letters of credit (LC) in Bangladesh involving three parties: the seller, the buyer and the bank. It addresses the severity of LC fraud, the banks’ actions when detected and the preventive measures the relevant parties can adopt.

This research uses doctrinal and qualitative methods to propose strategic actions that benefit buyers, sellers, banks, legal professionals and judges. The study aims to explore the modus operandi used by fraudsters through thematic analysis.

The study’s findings reveal that LC fraud has escalated to a concerning level, posing a significant threat to the economic stability of Bangladesh. Measures must be taken to mitigate this risk and safeguard the country’s financial integrity. To effectively combat the risk of LC fraud, the updated version of UCP must include specific and detailed guidelines on LC fraud. This study recommends preventative measures that all parties involved must take to reduce the likelihood of fraud significantly.

Due to a lack of LC experts, the participant sample for the study in Bangladesh was limited. Nevertheless, most banking participants were highly distinguished and held the Head of Trade Finance Department position in commercial banks. A few academics and legal practitioners with LC expertise also participated in the study.

It provides cutting-edge solutions to effectively handle LC fraud risk and provides proactive measures to prevent it.

This study aims to investigate whether and how auditors responded to the documented increases in earnings management after split-share structure reform (SSSR) in China, as manifested in auditors’ propensity to issue modified audit opinions (MAOs) after the SSSR. This study further investigates how client importance and auditor size influence auditors’ response to earnings management after the SSSR.

This study adopts logit regression models to investigate auditors’ propensity to issue MAOs to their clients that appear to manage earnings after the SSSR. Initially, including all Chinese publicly listed firms from the CSMAR database, the sample for final analyses consists of 21,904 firm-year observations for 1,290 unique listed firms during the period 2001–2020. The sample period surrounds the implementation of the SSSR, which started in 2005, allowing the examination of auditors’ propensity to issue MAOs after vis-à-vis before the SSSR.

The authors find that non-Big10 auditors in China were less likely to issue MAOs to their economically important clients who appear to manage earnings after SSSR. However, in the years of non-tradeable shares being released to the markets, both Big10 and non-Big10 auditors were less likely to issue MAOs to their economically important clients who appear to manage earnings. The findings suggest that auditors may have compromised auditor independence in response to earnings management after the SSSR, likely due to the pressure from their economically important clients.

This paper contributes to the literature, specifically the practice and theory in auditing, by shedding light on ever-changing auditors’ reporting behaviour, especially with regard to auditor independence. It also adds to the growing body of literature on the impact of institutional changes on auditing practices worldwide. The findings of this study further suggest that the recently documented declining demand for high-quality audits after the SSSR may be motivated by the clients’ intention to manage earnings after the SSSR.

The purpose of this study is to explore the economic impact of financial restatements by major customers on the audit opinion of their suppliers, showing that non-financial information disclosure potentially helps auditors make better assessments.

Using a sample of China’s listed firms from 2007 to 2021, the authors aim to find the relationship between customers’ financial restatements and their suppliers’ audit opinions. Heckman selection model, placebo tests and other robustness checks are used as well.

The findings reveal that customers’ financial restatements have a significant effect on the likelihood of suppliers receiving modified audit opinions. This relationship is pronounced when suppliers face a higher level of financial constraints, exhibit poorer accounting conservatism or receive more negative media coverage. Additionally, this effect occurs through increased business risk and information risk, which heightens auditors’ perceived audit risk. Moreover, the study highlights the influence of switching costs, auditor expertise and restatement severity on this relationship.

Risks originating from customers can spread along the supply chain, emphasizing the necessity for auditors to give heightened attention to both the audited firms and their customer information. Moreover, regulators should carefully consider the important impact of customer information disclosures to maximize the protection of the interests of external information users.

This study not only confirms the crucial role of customer information disclosures in annual reports for stakeholders and auditors but also contributes to the existing literature on customer–supplier relationships.