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This study aims to investigate the effect of the diversity of the board of directors (BOD) and the shariah supervisory board (SSB) on credit risk, insolvency, operations, reputation, rate of deposit return risk (RDRR) and equity-based financing risk (EBFR) of Islamic banks (IB).

The study uses 68 IBs from 19 countries covering 2009 to 2019. BOD and SSB diversity attributes data were hand-collected from the annual reports. Financial data were collected from the bankscope database. The robustness test and two-step system generalized method of moment estimation technique were used to address potential endogeneity issues.

This study provides evidence that diversity in the experience and cross-membership of board members decreases the risk. Gender diversity increases the risk, but the BOD’s education level diversity has no relationship with risk. More interestingly, influences in the experience and cross-membership of the SSB’s members positively influence risk. However, members’ education levels and gender diversity have not been proven to affect risk.

The paper recommends that Islamic banking authorities play a stronger role and make a greater effort in driving corporate governance reform. Also, determining individual characteristics of the board is a requirement to become a member of a BOD or an SSB.

This paper expands the commitment literature through the diversity of the BOD’s and the SSB’s members in terms of their education levels, experience, cross-membership and gender. This study expands the list of potential risks for IBs, by including the RDRR and EBFR.

Given the relative importance of the Shari’ah supervisory boards (SSBs) in Islamic banks’ (IBs’) performance, this study aims to examine the impact of SSB diversity on IBs’ performance from the stakeholders’ perspective in the context of Pakistan.

Random-effects model and generalized method of moment are used to investigate the impact of SSB diversity on IBs’ performance across a panel data of 22 Islamic banks in Pakistan from 2005 to 2020 inclusive.

The findings of this study show that SSB size, SSB relevant educational background diversity, bank’s size and bank’s stability have a positive impact on IBs’ performance. In contrast, SSB age, nationality and cross-membership diversities have a negative impact on IBs’ performance. Moreover, SSB gender, tenure and general educational diversities have no significant impact on IBs’ performance.

SSB diversity and IBs practices are different across different jurisdictions. This study is conducted on IBs in Pakistan because of data constraints; thus, the results of this study may not be generalizable to other countries' IBs.

In structuring the SSBs’ framework, the regulatory authorities and policymakers should consider mandating an ideal SSB size and hiring relevant qualified members with low cross-membership to improve IBs' performance. Thus, the structure potentially attracts Muslim stakeholders, enhances their satisfaction and improves IBs' performance.

Having diversified members in the SSB, IBs equally benefit both individual and group stakeholders in society. Diversity in SSB members enhances IBs' performance and the social welfare of various stakeholders in society.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical research that examines comprehensively the impact of SSB structural and demographic diversities on IBs' performance in the context of Pakistan. This paper contributes to the unique Shari’ah governance structure in the context of Pakistan. Additionally, this study may serve to assist IBs’ stakeholders in better comprehending the SSB practices of IBs in Pakistan.

This paper aims to assess the measurement of the Corporate Governance (CG) quality of Islamic Banks (IBs) and its effect on financial performance.

In the applied part of this study, a sample of 44 IBs operating in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were investigated according to information provided by the national central bank websites of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. To measure the governance quality, CG-index was constructed based on three sub-indices which are the Board of Directors (BOD), the Audit Committees (AC) and the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) indices.

Findings revealed that CG quality of IBs in GCC countries adhere to 74 per cent of the attributes addressed in the CG-index. The results also showed that IBs in GCC countries valued the effectiveness of SSB much more than the conventional CG mechanisms. Using multiple regression models, findings suggested no statistically significant relation between CG quality and financial performance which would imply that good CG had an insignificant association with high performance in GCC IBs.

The current paper may serve to assist IBs stakeholders to better understand the CG practices of IBs. In addition, the observed insignificant relation between the quality of CG practices and performance should sensitize the IBs regulators in the GCC countries to the necessity of improving the existing CG requirements.

This study aims to explore and assess the key Sharīʿah governance factors that may have an influence on the internal Sharīʿah audit structure and its practices in Islamic financial Institutions in Yemen, particularly in the Islamic banking sector.

To do so, the study adopts a qualitative approach employing case study analysis, and both primary and secondary data are used to formulate the appropriate interview questions and achieve the objectives of the study.

The authors observed that the key factors that help in assessing the internal Sharīʿah audit structure and its practices are Sharīʿah auditor charter, audit plan and audit manual. In addition, the authors observed that, in general, internal Sharīʿah audit tends to be subjective in Yemeni banks because they depend on the internal Sharīʿah auditor’s qualifications and experience more than formal guidelines and regulations. This is because there are no detailed internal Sharīʿah audit plans or detailed audit manual. Moreover, the internal Sharīʿah auditor charter is not comprehensive in explaining the duties required of the internal Sharīʿah auditor, and it is mixed with the Sharīʿah Supervisory Board (SSB) duties. This means the internal Sharīʿah auditor lacks the critical tools that enable him to achieve the desired audit manual objectives where the effectiveness of internal Sharīʿah audit can be measured.

One of the important implications of this study is providing very important guidance about enhancing the areas where shortfalls are found within the Sharīʿah governance process in the Yemeni banking system. This enhancement process of the internal factors of Sharīʿah governance can be achieved by increasing the awareness of the enhancing internal Sharīʿah audit structure as it reflects ultimately on the internal Sharīʿah auditor’s role and his practices.

Understanding the effectiveness of internal Sharīʿah audit structure among internal auditors will improve the Sharīʿah audit framework standards, enhance the Sharīʿah knowledge among internal auditors and provide general guidelines to design audit programmes for Sharīʿah governance auditing process.

The paper aims to examine the impact of Shari'ah governance quality on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in Islamic banks.

The study's sample consists of 66 Islamic banks from 14 countries over 2015–2019. The research uses the Heckman model, which is a two-stage estimation method to obtain unbiased estimates, as ESG scores are only observable for 17 Islamic banks in Eikon Refinitiv database at the time of the analysis.

The analysis shows that Shari'ah governance has a beneficial role to achieve ESG performance. The analysis also shows that enhanced profiles of Shari'ah supervisory boards' (SSB) attributes are more efficient than the operational procedures to promote ESG performance. In addition, the analysis shows that enhanced SSBs' attributes strengthen the bank's corporate governance framework, while sound-designed procedures increase the bank's social activities by emphasizing their roles to ensure Shari'ah compliance. Finally, the analysis sheds light on the failure of Shari'ah governance to promote environmental performance.

The existing databases providing companies' ESG-related information still do not offer sufficient data to conduct an international study with a larger sample of Islamic banks (IBs) having ESG scores for a more extended period.

The research provides policy insights to Islamic banks' stakeholders to promote social and governance performance in the Islamic finance industry through improving Shari'ah governance practices. However, raising environmental awareness is imminent among all actors implicated in the Shari'ah governance processes to help overcome the anthropogenic risks.

The research complements the governance-banks' ESG performance literature by examining the role of Shari'ah governance. The research also extends the literature on Islamic banks' sustainability by pointing to the Shari'ah governance failure to enhance environmental performance and thus achieve Maqasid al-Shariah regarding the environment.

This study aims to identify the significant scientific actors, reveal the intellectual structure and explore essential features for future research direction in Sharia governance studies.

The study applies a hybrid review combining bibliometric analysis and content analysis. It uses Rstudio (biblioshiny), VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel to analyze 457 articles published in 206 journals indexed by Scopus and/or Web of Science during the period of 1985 until the end of 2022.

The paper discovered four distinct streams of Sharia governance studies: structure of Sharia governance, Sharia governance and risk management, Sharia governance and sustainability and the effect of Sharia governance toward firm’s financial performance. Furthermore, it derives and summarizes 26 main research questions for future studies.

In terms of theoretical implications, the finding contributes to the general literature on Sharia governance by conducting bibliometric analysis and content analysis. In terms of practical implications, this study suggests that Sharia governance should be strengthened by the management of Islamic banks and other Islamic-based businesses.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the early studies using a hybrid review on the topic of Sharia governance, allowing future researchers in this field to capture the trends and progress of current literature as well as the research gaps to be filled in by future researchers.

This paper aims to examine the impact of Shari’ah supervisory boards (SSBs) on the performance of Islamic banks (IBs). It also tests whether SSBs’ attributes affect the performance of IBs. Based on a sample of 1,803 Islamic bank-year observations from 82 banks in 15 countries over the period 1993-2014 and controlling for factors known to affect bank performance, this study reveals a robust and significant positive relationship between SSBs and Islamic bank performance. This study also shows that the characteristics of SSBs affect the performance of IBs. This research reveals how SSBs influence the performance of IBs, as well as the processes and roles SSBs use to ensure Shari’ah compliance in business transactions.

The purpose of this study design is to relate SSB presence, size and diversity to financial performance using three techniques. The first technique is a multivariate data analysis that analyzes data arising from more than one variable. The second technique is a clustered regression (clustering by bank), which corrects for serial correlation and produces unbiased t-statistics. Because this sample is drawn from panel data, it is expected serial autocorrelation of the independent variables and error term within banks. In cases where within-company correlation exists, t-statistics based on average regression coefficients from year-by-year regression are upwardly biased and potentially severe (Peterson, 2009). Therefore, this study uses a technique that agrees with Stock and Watson (2002), who show that the standard method of calculating heteroskedasticity-robust standard errors for the fixed-effects estimator generates inconsistent variance estimates. Thus, using the clustered regression is consistent with the fixed-effects estimator. The third technique is a two-stage least-squares regression that helps build an instrumental variable for robustness tests purposes.

The findings suggest that large corporate boards and large SSBs are more efficient in dealing with different monitoring and advisory roles than small SSBs. Consequently, this suggests that increasing the size of corporate boards and SSBs should improve monitoring and advisory functions, management behavior and organizational performance.

It is possible that there is an upper limit to this benefit, however; we do not explore this limit, which therefore provides opportunities for additional research. Because Shari’ah compliance relates only to a rational legal framework of negative screening relegated to interest prohibition and limiting uncertainty. The interest prohibition and limiting uncertainty have not been investigated between the two samples due to data unavailability. In addition, limited accounting-based measures of financial performance may not accurately portray IB performance; hence, an additional market measure is implemented, which is Tobin’s Q.

Ultimately, these findings could help IBs improve their financial results by enhancing their internal and external governance mechanisms (Walsh and Seward, 1990). They provide a basis for developing larger, more diverse SSBs that are more focused on complying with Shari’ah and corporate governance. The results also have significant policy implications for improving firm-level corporate governance versus improving country-level institutional factors. Both views have their advocates. However, it is very difficult to reform the legal system in a short time. Still, this study shows that struggling IBs have a way to improve their corporate governance and simultaneously improve their financing environment.

This research contributes to the literature on the effects of SSBs on IBs’ organizational financial performance, processes and roles. It is the first to examine empirically the underpinnings of how SSBs affect organizational financial performance via agency theory and contingency theory.

This study aims to examine diversity in the composition of Shariah supervisory boards (SSBs) of Islamic banks (IBs). It investigates diversity from two perspectives: existing composition of SSBs and the regulatory frameworks and standards of selected Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries. Diversity characteristics include education, nationality, gender and age.

A list of all full-fledged Islamic commercial banks (FFICBs) globally has been carefully prepared and confirmed. Conventional banks with Islamic windows, non-commercial banks, takaful companies and other Islamic financial institutions are excluded. The available profiles of 428 SSB members have been scrutinised and analysed. These board members occupy 522 SSB positions in 238 FFICBs operating in 52 countries around the globe. From the regulatory perspective, 12 national and international Shariah governance frameworks and standards have been examined.

Findings of this paper indicate various levels of diversity in SSBs of the reviewed IBs. The level of diversity in educational background and in the nationality of SSBs can be described as generally acceptable. However, a lack of diversity in gender and age among SSB members is evidently observed in IBs. While the lack of age diversity in SSBs may be relatively justified as a common trend in the composition of corporate boards, SSBs of IBs are seriously lagging behind in gender diversity. On the regulatory level, this study concluded that provisions on diversity as a requirement in SSBs are almost non-existent in the existing regulatory frameworks and standards.

The major limitation of this study is the lack of available information on the SSB members.

This paper provides insights for IBs and policymakers concerned with the corporate governance of IBs and all Islamic financial institutions. First, it offers an excellent bird’s-eye view of the status of diversity in SSBs of IBs. Second, it motivates policymakers and standard-setting bodies to ensure, through the relevant regulatory frameworks, adequate levels of diversity in the composition of SSBs. Diversity in SSBs of IBs and Islamic financial institutions should be given special emphasis, not only in boards and top management positions but also in the workplace. This is of profound significance to the reputation of Islamic finance industry which has been recently under mounting pressure to translate the rhetoric about the Islamic finance industry being ethical, fair, just, equitable and inclusive into genuine implementations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to examine the diversity of SSB members from the regulatory as well as from the implementation perspective.

The unique characteristic of Islamic bank leads in governance and disclosure. Using stakeholder, signaling, and market discipline theory, governance and adequate disclosure may increase bank soundness. This study aims to investigate the relationship of sharia disclosure and Sharia Supervisory Board in influencing Islamic bank soundness in the different regulatory framework of the country. Using purposive sampling, the research covered 84 Islamic banks in 16 countries during the period 2013–2015 with lag data of Islamic bank soundness. The result shows sharia disclosure influences on Islamic bank soundness for management efficiency, capital adequacy ratio, asset quality, and liquidity. The results also show that sharia disclosure mediates the indirect effect of SSB on Islamic bank soundness. The regulatory framework (sharia accounting standard and SSB regulation) shows moderating effect of regulation framework proved on the association of sharia disclosure with management efficiency, capital, and liquidity. The effect is indirectly depending on the regulatory framework for proxy management efficiency, capital, and liquidity. The implication of the research suggests that sharia disclosure could increase the market discipline mechanism of Islamic bank stream. The Islamic bank can increase the transparency using sharia disclosure as a branding for increasing public trust, even though in the deficient Islamic bank regulation countries.

The purpose of this paper is to engage in a systematic examination of previous scholarship on the relationship between Sharia governance (SG), which is represented by the Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB), and the Internal Sharia Review (ISR), to determine whether the ISR can minimize financing risk in Islamic banking.

The literature search consisted of two steps: a randomized and systematic literature review. The methodology adopted in this article is a systematic literature review.

To reduce the risk of financing in Islamic banking, SG must be implemented optimally by making rules regarding the role of the SSB in supervising customer financing. In addition, it is a necessary to establish an entity that assists the SSB in the implementation of SG, namely, the ISR section, but there is still very little research on the role of the SSB and ISR in minimizing financing risk.

Establishing an ISR to assist the SSB in carrying out its duties has direct practical implications for Islamic banking: minimizing financing risks and compliance with Islamic Sharia principles. In addition, new rules regarding the role of SSBs and the ISR in reducing credit risk include monitoring customers to ensure that they fulfill their financing commitments on time. This new form of regulation and review can be used as a reference by the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or Finance Service Authority to create new policies or regulations regarding SG, especially in Indonesia.

Subsequent research may introduce other more relevant variables, such as empirically testing the competence, independence or integrity of SSB and the ISR team as it attempts to minimize the risk of financing in Islamic banks. In addition, further research is expected to examine whether the SSB or the ISR team has a positive or negative influence on the risk of financing Islamic banks with secondary data.