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The purpose of this paper is to assess the current legal framework on money laundering control in the insurance sector. Essentially, this examination is premised on the interrogation of whether it is still appropriate for Mauritius to apply such stringent, opaque and unyielding Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism norms and rules on general insurance when developed nations such as the UK and Singapore have done away with them for a more effective combat against money laundering. It would also be assessed why the financial services commission (FSC) is not able to draw inspiration from its British and Singaporean counterparts in fighting money laundering more effectively.

This paper uses the doctrinal legal research methodology which is colloquially described as “black-letter law” approach. It is backed up by a contextual legal analysis that is based on an analysis of relevant legal provisions. It relies ground experience from the insurance industry through the experience of the authors. A comparative approach is used with Singapore and the UK as case studies given that there are significant commonalities to the Mauritian jurisdiction as well as useful differences.

It is observed that a move towards a de-regulation of the legal framework on money laundering in the insurance sector with a more relaxed approach is more effective for the Mauritian insurance sector. Evidence is drawn from the Singaporean and British models. A re-structuring of the FSC of Mauritius is also warranted for such an approach to be adopted.

This paper is among the first academic contribution that proposes a de-regulation and the adoption of a relaxed approach of and by the Mauritian Insurance Industry for a more effective combat against money laundering. It serves as a legal foundational basis for further research in this direction.

Following the United Kingdom's (UK) withdrawal from the European Union (EU), there is uncertainty in the financial services industry on equivalence of regulatory regimes. This also affects the insurance industry. As of now, it is not clear if the UK’s supervisory regime (“Solvency UK”) will be classified as equivalent to the European Solvency II supervisory regime. After no equivalence decision was taken during the Brexit transition period and there are efforts by the UK in the form of the UK Solvency II Review and the Financial Services and Markets Bill to adapt Solvency II more to the characteristics of the national insurance market, the uncertainties are intensified. Although Solvency II non-equivalence would have a significant impact on insurance groups operating in both the UK and the EU, there has been no detailed analysis of whether these initiatives could have an impact on a future Solvency II equivalence decision. The purpose of this paper is to address and close this research gap with a literature review and a subsequent equivalence mapping and discussion.

Based on the literature review methodology, this paper draws on academic sources as well as publications from governments and regulators, articles from consultancies and subject matter experts and uses this literature to provide an overview of the current state of research on equivalence in the wider financial services industry, but specifically on Solvency II equivalence, the UK Solvency II Review and the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Based on this literature review, the paper also forms the basis for an innovative and forward-looking Solvency II equivalence mapping and discussion.

Several articles state that differences between Solvency II and Solvency UK could harm a future Solvency II equivalence decision. The UK Solvency II Review and the Financial Services and Markets Bill are two initiatives that support the objective of aligning the Solvency II supervisory regime more closely with the circumstances of the UK insurance market. Although both initiatives contribute to the fact that Solvency UK differs in parts from Solvency II, based on the literature review and the subsequent equivalence mapping and discussion, there are currently no reforms that should harm future Solvency II equivalence decisions.

This paper provides a previously non-existent overview of equivalence in the wider financial services industry, but specifically on Solvency II equivalence, the UK Solvency II Review and the Financial Services and Markets Bill, and brings them together in an innovative equivalence discussion. It thus presents the current state of knowledge on Solvency II after Brexit and develops it further around a mapping against the equivalence criteria. As non-equivalence could have significant implications for insurance groups operating in both the UK and the EU, this paper is a useful and practical study that provides a previously non-existent equivalence mapping and discussion based on current initiatives and publications. It thus closes the research gap identified and reduces uncertainties in the insurance industry and can be used as a blueprint for detailed and forward-looking equivalence mappings and discussions for the wider financial services industry.

This article aims to explore legal challenges regarding the regulation and supervision of Islamic Fintech and to construct Sharia compliance regulations to strengthen the supervision of Islamic Fintech operation.

This type of research is legal research, adopting the statute approach, comparative approach, and conceptual approach. The focus of the study is Indonesia with comparative studies with Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom are all on the top five countries in the Global Islamic Fintech (GIFT) Index. The list comprises countries that are most conducive to the growth of the Islamic Fintech market and ecosystem. However, weak supervision and low Sharia compliance are still becoming prominent challenges in the implementation of Islamic Fintech, while Sharia compliance is the core principle for Islamic finance regulation. Another finding is that a good ecosystem of Islamic Fintechs needs supportive regulations and policies, a Sharia Supervisory Board, and standards of Islamic Fintech Shariah governance.

This study examines the regulation and supervision of Islamic Fintech in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom countries whose Islamic Fintech industry is growing rapidly.

This study is a strong reference for countries with potential Islamic finance, especially when they are constructing the Sharia compliance regulations to strengthen the regulation and supervision of the Islamic finance industries.

Sharia compliance regulations can be a subsystem in the Islamic financial ecosystem to encourage Sharia economic growth in various countries.

To ensure Sharia compliance, it is recommended to take some steps: (a) creating the Sharia compliance regulations; (b) creating the Sharia supervisory boards; and (c) standardizing the Sharia governance of Islamic Fintech.

The evolution of new technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence and block chain has led to phenomenal growth of the FinTech Industry. The digital-only banking also known as neo, virtual or challenger banks leverage these technologies with the ultimate aim of enhancing the reach of the formal banking sector to the hinterlands of our country which are currently plagued with the problem of inadequate infrastructure. It is evident that convergence of the neo-bank with the traditional banking system would be a path-breaker as it caters to the gamut of services which can be offered to the end customer. Recent trends indicate that regulators are concentrating on consolidating different enactments in the form of codes instead of separate and piecemeal laws to control regulatory cholesterol and promoting digital technologies, thereby nurturing competitiveness in the market. Through this chapter we aim to do a comparative analysis of the technological advancements and its implementation in India with other jurisdictions. We will be relying on secondary data sourced from various governmental websites, surveys and journals. With the FinTech industry gaining traction and decentralization of this sector, it becomes imperative to have proper regulations to curb unwarranted risks, the absence of which might just halt the potential growth and can turn out to be a nightmare for the economy if not dealt with caution. There exists unexploited potential in the digital sector which can also be used across the borders to realize its true worth. However, it should be based on responsible innovation which attends to the interoperability issues while preserving the functioning and stability of the financial system.

The Maqāṣid (objective) hierarchy is a triple-tiered conceptualisation of individual and social needs that is grounded in the five objectives of Sharīʿah (Islamic Law). Managerialism is the ideological representation of human interaction based on managerial doctrines and practices. This paper aims to explore the tension between the Maqāṣid hierarchy and managerialism by evaluating the Sharīʿah requirements in the Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013 of Malaysia from the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah perspective.

This qualitative study uses an inductive approach to review the sources of Sharīʿah and classical literature of Islamic jurists to present Sharīʿah rulings on managerialism and Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah.

The Maqāṣid hierarchy promotes a vision of human life that is the opposite of managerialism. In the case of IFSA 2013, the Maqāṣid hierarchy, which is supposed to be the bedrock for Islamic finance, is replaced by a managerial hierarchy closer to Maslow’s hierarchy than it is to Imam Shatibi’s concept of human life. A process of fitting the Maqāṣid hierarchy into a narrow managerial mould occurs in IFSA 2013, meaning that many of the unique aspects of the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah are lost.

This study will assist Sharīʿah scholars, policymakers and Islamic financial institutions to develop the financial system and to implement the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah to improve macro policy and shaping Islamic institutions.

This is a pioneer study that develops a bridge between the Islamic Maqāṣid and conventional managerial hierarchies, which will encourage academics and practitioners to enrich the literature by conducting more in-depth studies on this topic.

From 1979 to 2023, the takaful structure has been adopted in many jurisdictions, making the documenting of its early days of establishment relatively difficult and somewhat unreliable. This is unlike conventional insurance, where the history and legislation are well documented and archived in various research (Hellwege, 2016; Marano and Siri, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to provide a chronology for the establishment and development of takaful via the takaful establishment in each jurisdiction, documenting its first takaful operator and first takaful regulation.

This paper has used a qualitative method in the form of reviewing literature and available data such as journals, books and official resources. The data is thoroughly analysed in order to build the chronology for takaful. It adopted an exploratory research design, which is deemed suitable in situations where few works of literature have examined the subject (Neuman, 2014). The paper explores the establishment and non-establishment of takaful in 57 countries. The paper categorises the countries into seven regions starting with the GCC, Levant, Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Europe and Others.

The takaful chronology presented in this paper shows that takaful operations exist in 47 jurisdictions, starting from Sudan and the UAE in 1979, with the most recent adopters being Morocco and Iran in December 2021. It is found that 22 jurisdictions do not have takaful regulations, and the Takaful Act 1984, issued in Malaysia, is considered the first takaful regulation that sets the basis for other regulations that follow.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive chronology of takaful, especially as the few existing timelines have been found to be incomplete and consist of contradictory information.

This study aims to identify the problems in shariah compliance and the weak oversight of implementing Islamic crowdfunding (ICF). Shariah compliance regulation is an essential subsystem in Islamic social finance ecosystems.

This type of research is legal research. The research approaches are the statute, comparative and conceptual approaches. The study in this research examines Indonesia, the UK and Malaysia.

ICF is one of the fastest-growing sectors of Islamic financial technology (fintech). The Islamic fintech sector is showing maturity signals with a market size of $79bn in 2021, projected at $179bn in 2026. Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia lead the Index by Global Islamic Fintech (GIFT) Index scores. However, low shariah compliance is still an issue in implementing ICF. This problem is caused by regulatory support that is still lacking and oversight of shariah compliance is not optimal. On the one hand, shariah compliance is the ICF core principle for Shariah Governance.

This study examines the regulation and oversight of ICF in Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK. Indonesia and Malaysia, a country with the highest GIFT index score in the world, and the UK, a country with an Islamic finance sector experiencing rapid growth.

The research results on shariah compliance regulation in ICF are helpful as a comprehensive approach for developing sustainable Islamic social finance ecosystems.

Shariah compliance is the core principle of ICF governance. Its implementation can increase public trust.

Crowdfunding platform and issuers in ICF must implement shariah compliance. Therefore, it is essential to consider the presence of shariah compliance requirements and a Shariah Supervisory Board (DPS).

The objectives of this study are to analyse the present Malaysian law regarding money laundering, to identify advantages and disadvantages of the current anti-money laundering law, to analyse its impact on the public sector and the private sector and to make recommendations on any improvements that should be made.

This study will use a qualitative method where the literature review method applies to collect primary and secondary data regarding anti-money laundering laws. Data has been collected from the various provisions of laws and text reading, such as books, articles, journals, law cases and thesis regarding anti-money laundering laws and those analysed with the content analysis method and the critical analysis method.

This study found that Malaysia has one law regarding anti-money laundering and they have control over individual and corporate entities in Malaysia.

This study found that Malaysia has one law regarding anti-money laundering and they have control over individual and corporate entities in Malaysia.

The relationship between trust, accountability and procedural justice is studied via research into British credit unions (CUs) following regulatory reform to remedy problems exposed by the 2007–2008 global financial crisis.

Interviews at 13 case studies of different types and sizes of credit unions in Glasgow, Scotland, are examined using template analysis and abductive theorizing to understand the effects of disproportionate reforms on small credit unions.

Smaller credit unions found three regulatory changes – namely dual regulators, increased minimum reserves and introduction of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime – excessive. Excessive change generated distrust in regulators. Regulators' insufficient attention to procedural justice contributed to this distrust.

Linkage of multidimensional confluent trust to a multilevel system of accountability provides an original way of understanding how indiscriminate attempts at trust repair damage some elements of trust in formal regulatory systems. Recognition of the need for procedural justice to enable smaller credit unions to articulate their extant checks and potential exemption from formal regulations provides another valuable contribution. The explanation of the abductive logic employed is also original.