Search results

This study aims to scrutinize the modus operandi of global financial frauds in Islamic financial institutions and assesses whether those frauds can be prevented using High Standards of Shariah Governance.

A qualitative research methodology is deployed to conduct this study by analyzing and scrutinizing academic journals, reports, regulatory guidelines and articles.

The findings in this study show that the modus operandi ranges from bribery, forged documents, unlawful profiteering, credit limit allowance ignorance, Ponzi scheme, culprit collaboration from inside and outside the banks. This paper also argues that the centralized and high-standard Shariah governance framework better prevents fraud by providing better Shariah supervision and risk management measures.

The observations in this study are limited to financial fraud at Islamic financial institutions that happened in the 21st century with more than $100m in financial loss or penalty.

This study may contribute significantly by providing insight for regulators to strengthen the Shariah governance framework in their respective countries. It also benefits Islamic financial institutions by enhancing their capacity to anticipate future financial fraud.

The study aims to critically review the Shariah governance framework for Islamic banking prevailing in Pakistan and provide a comparison with Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

It analyzes 16 circulars issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) since 2002, including three Shariah governance frameworks in 2014, 2015 and 2018. Additionally, the study compares the SBP and AAOIFI Shariah governance standards to evaluate the soundness of the SBP framework against international benchmarks.

Pakistan’s Shariah governance model is centralized, with the SBP’s Shariah board having ultimate authority. The SBP has provided a comprehensive Shariah framework, which includes among others, the criteria for the qualifications and conflict of interests of Shariah members. Both AAOIFI and SBP Shariah governance frameworks have similarities and differences in terms of the tenure of Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) members, reporting line of SSB, number of SSB meetings, minimum experience of SSB members, primary duties of Shariah board, code of ethics and conduct for SSB and management and requirement of publication of SSB report in the annual report of Islamic banks. The frameworks differ in terms of the delegation of SSB powers, assessment and appraisal of SSB effectiveness and outsourcing of Shariah Compliance Department and Internal Shariah Audit Unit.

The study recommends expanding the qualification criteria for Shariah advisors to include additional degrees and qualifications, upholding stringent criteria for conflict of interests and promoting stakeholder consultation through exposure drafts.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first of its kind which critically review and compare the Shariah governance framework prevailing in Pakistan.

The aim of this paper is to review the different steps of development of Shariah governance system and to discuss the different practices of Shariah governance in Islamic financial institutions internationally.

The paper has a particular focus on the other contributions of relevant literature and existing laws and regulations for Islamic financial institutions which provides a reflective synthesis on practical work of Shariah governance system across different jurisdictions.

The main attention of this paper is Islamic financial institutions and a key issue arising is that the typical structure, functions, duties and responsibilities are different from country to country.

The paper put forward various suggestions to the regulatory authorities and to the Islamic Financial Services Board to enhance the Shariah governance system and to standardize the different practices of Shariah governance worldwide.

The originality and the value of the paper lie in its critical review of current Shariah governance practices worldwide. As well, some key issues pertaining to Shariah governance in Islamic financial institutions are addressed to encourage further investigation by academics and practitioners in the field.

This study aims at investigating the impact of the disclosure and the Shariah governance on the financial performance in MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia) Islamic banks.

We use the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression models to check the interdependence relationship between the disclosure, the Shariah governance and the financial performance of 47 Islamic banks (IBs) from ten countries operating in MENASA region. The sample period is from 2012 to 2019. In these regressions models, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) are the dependent variables. The disclosure and the Shariah governance indicators are the independent factors. To measure the Shariah governance, we use the three sub-indices, which are the Board of Directors (BOD), the Audit Committee (AC) and the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB). Size, Leverage and Age of the bank are used as control variables. We also used The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and the three-stage least squares (3SLS) estimations for robustness check.

Result shows a negative relationship between the disclosure and the two performance measures in IBs. Furthermore, as far as the governance indicators are concerned, we found that the BOD and AC, as well as the BOD and SSB, have a positive and significant impact on the ROA and ROE, respectively. This reveals that good governance had a significant association with higher performance in MENASA IBs.

The paper considers both IBs that adopt mandatory as well as voluntary AAOIFI standards and the GLS method to investigate the impact of the AAOIFI disclosure and the Shariah governance on ROA and ROE. Also, it uses the GMM and the 3SLS estimations for robustness check. It is relevant for researchers, policymakers and stakeholders concerned with IBs' performance.

This paper aims to examine the effect of Shariah Advisory Panel (SAP) on both the level of agency cost and fund performance against conventional corporate governance, within corporate and Shariah governance settings, between Shariah and conventional mutual fund (CMF), in an emerging economy of Malaysia during the period 2008-2015.

Panel data regression is appropriately used within corporate governance research because of empirical issues of unobserved heterogeneity effects to avoid spurious evidence. The secondary data of 172 CMFs and 80 Shariah mutual funds are gathered hand-collected from annual reports and master prospectuses for the purpose of analysis between the period 2008 and 2015, generating 2,016 fund-year observations.

SAP is found to have a positive effect on agency costs. Consequently, it leads to empirical evidence that substantiates a negative and marginally significant association with fund performance when designated by accounting measure. Thus, the Shariah monitoring proxy is not a good mechanism for controlling agency costs inconsistent with performance maximizing (agency cost minimizing) outcomes.

The unique data set of mutual funds used in this research may restrict the generalization of the findings unless mentioned and explained specifically the data characteristics. The single proxy for Shariah monitoring could be better off by having a list of different measures.

The paper highlights and suggests a consistent improvement in regulation that could be performed by policymakers pertaining to the non-trivial additional cost of implying Shariah governance.

This paper provides empirical evidence of the SAP effects from the view of a more complex monitoring structure in consequence of having an additional layer of governance, devoting on the trade-off between benefit and cost to shareholders.

The purpose of this study is to explore the practices of Shariah governance (SG) systems in terms of their guidelines, current operational procedures, internbal policies and structures and regulatory framework of Islamic banks in Bangladesh from the viewpoints of Shariah, Tawhidic approach/ontological approach and Shuratic process of Islamic corporate governance and institutional theory.

A semi-structured interview tactic has been applied to attain the objective. Overall, data has been collected from the regulators, Shariah supervisory board members, Shariah department executives and experts from the central bank and Islamic banks of Bangladesh.

The study finds that Islamic banks do not follow complete Shariah principles in all aspects of SG nor violate them fully in their overall functions due to less accountability, which contradicts the concept of the Tawhidi epistemological process of Islamic corporate governance. Islamic banks announce that they are following Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) guidelines, but in practice, they do not follow the instructions accurately because all of the standards and policies of AAOIFI and the Islamic Financial Services Board are not applicable in Bangladesh due to its cultural, legal and regulatory structures. It is found that Islamic banks in Bangladesh have a lower practice of maqasid as-Shariah and Tawhidic approach and Shuratic process.

The study significantly contributed to the central bank of Bangladesh and Islamic banks by exploring the SG systems for their further enhancement. The research provides some suggestions for improving existing SG systems and enhancing more application of SG guidelines and Shariah principles in the overall operations of the Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

This research extends the literature regarding the Islamic banks’ SG practices in Bangladesh. The study also contributes to Shariah, Tawhidic approach/ontological approach and Shuratic process of Islamic corporate governance and institutional theory by exploring the Islamic banks’ existing SG practices in Bangladesh.

This paper aims to discuss the different practices and regulatory frameworks of Shariah supervision in Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) across Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and to identify the gaps in current Shariah supervisory practices. Parallel with the rapid growth of Islamic finance worldwide, corporate governance has received a considerable amount of attention in Islamic finance. Shariah is a unique characteristic of Islamic finance. That is why the need for a good and efficient Shariah governance system for IFIs is considered to be a crucial requirement to ensure the development and the stability of the Islamic finance industry.

The paper is based on critical review of current laws and regulations for IFIs; this provides a reflective synthesis on the practical work of the Shariah supervisory system across the 25 different OIC member states.

The paper reveals several findings. First, the authors observe a weak and poor Shariah supervisory system in most OIC member states. Furthermore, the authors detect various gaps in the current Shariah supervisory practices. Most of these shortfalls are linked to the current regulatory frameworks: the roles and the responsibilities of the national Shariah authority, and the institutional Shariah board’s duties and attributes.

This paper’s originality and value lies in its critical review of current Shariah supervisory practices across 25 OIC member states. Also, the paper puts forward various suggestions to the regulatory authorities and to the Islamic Financial Services Board to enhance the Shariah governance system and to standardize the different practices of Shariah governance worldwide.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and Shariah non-compliant risk (SNCR) that is unique for Islamic banks. The study examines the roles of Shariah committee along with the board of directors in mitigating SNCR.

The paper empirically investigates the implications of characteristics of board of directors and Shariah committee on the SNCR by using a sample of 29 full-fledge Islamic banks from Malaysia and Indonesia over the period 2007-2017. All data is hand collected from the Islamic banks' annual reports with the exception of country-level data collected from the World Bank database.

The results show that banks with a smaller board size and higher proportion of independent board members are likely to have lower SNCR. The findings also indicate that the financial expertise and higher frequency of Shariah committee meetings reduces the SNCR. Collectively, the analysis shows that banks with strong corporate governance environments reduce SNCR.

The findings of the study shed light on the relationship between corporate governance practice, Shariah committee characteristics and SNCR. The results can be used by different stakeholders such as policymakers, boards of directors and senior management of Islamic banks to mitigate SNCR.

This study extends the literature on corporate governance and risk-taking by including additional dimensions of governance and risk type. The corporate governance mechanism at the board level is complemented by including the Shariah committee characteristics and SNCR which is relevant to Islamic financial institutions is examined.

The purpose of this study is to formulate a governance and regulatory framework for Islamic crypto assets (ICAs). A balanced regulatory framework is required to protect consumers and to encourage digital Islamic finance innovation.

This study focuses on Indonesia and compares it to other countries, specifically Malaysia and the UK, using statutory, comparative and conceptual research approaches.

The ICAs are permissible (halal) commodities/assets to be traded if they fulfil the standards as goods or commodities that can be traded with a sale and purchase contract (sil’ah) and have an underlying asset (backed by tangible assets such as gold). Islamic social finance activities such as zakat and Islamic microfinance activities such as halal industry are backed by ICAs. The regulatory framework needed to support ICAs includes the Islamic Financial Services Act, shariah supervisory boards, shariah governance standards and ICA exchanges.

This study only examined crypto assets (tokens as securities) and not cryptocurrencies. It used regulations in several countries with potential in Islamic finance development, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK.

The ICA regulatory framework is helpful as an element of a comprehensive strategy to develop a lasting Islamic social finance ecosystem.

The development of crypto assets must be supported by a regulatory framework to protect consumers and encourage innovation in Islamic digital finance.

ICA has growth prospects; however, weak regulatory support and minimal oversight indicate weak legal protection for consumers and investors. Regulating ICA, optimising supervision, implementing shariah governance standards and having ICA exchanges can strengthen the Islamic economic ecosystem.

The purpose of this paper is to study whether the characteristics of the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) can influence the risk-taking behaviors of Islamic banks.

The data on governance were collected from 70 Islamic banks’ annual reports across 18 countries for the period from 2000 to 2011 to investigate the relationship between SSB’s characteristics including size, busyness and foreign board and the Islamic banks’ risk activities.

The size of SSB and the proportion of busy board in SSB positively and significantly influence Islamic banks’ asset return and insolvency risks. Foreign members are more effective in monitoring banks’ Shariah compliance. Further analysis provides some evidence that most of the findings on the associations between the SSB structure and bank risk are derived from countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council where Shariah governance is ruled internally at the bank level.

There is a need for better Shariah board characteristics in place that complement with other governance mechanisms to well comprehend the main purpose of Islamic banks.

SSB board busyness and foreign characteristics appear to influence the risk-taking behaviors of Islamic banks.