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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the UAE national banks' practices of corporate governance (CG) and the perception of the UAE national banks of the effects of CG on performance and financial distress.

A modified questionnaire has been developed, divided into two parts. The first part covers disclosure and transparency, executive compensation, relationship with shareholders, governance structure, policies and compliance, relationship with stakeholders, and board of directors. The second part deals with performance and financial distress.

The results indicate that UAE banks are aware of the importance of disclosure transparency, executive compensation, the relationship with shareholders and stakeholders, and the role of the board of directors. The results also indicate that the corporate governance practices of UAE national banks are acceptable. In addition, the results reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between CG practices of UAE national banks and disclosure and transparency, shareholders' interests, stakeholders' interests, and the role of the board of directors. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is an insignificant positive relationship between CG practices of UAE national banks and performance level, and that there is a significant positive relationship between financial distress and CG practices of UAE national banks. Finally, the study found that there is no significant difference in the level of CG practices between the UAE's national conventional banks and its Islamic banks.

The current study is considered the first of its kind conducted on the UAE. To the best of the author's knowledge, no such studies have been conducted regarding the effect of CG on performance and financial distress of UAE national conventional and Islamic banks.

The purpose of this study is primarily to implement the emerging market (EM) Z‐score model to predict bankruptcy and to measure the financial performance of major Islamic banks in the UAE. In addition, this study aims to introduce the Z‐score model to this industry as a beneficial diagnostic tool for possible causes standing behind the deterioration of financial performance.

The methodology that has been used in this study is based on Z‐score model for EMs developed by Altman. The related studies have proved that Z‐score has more than 80 percent accuracy and verified it is a robust tool and is useful in assessing the business performance and prediction of potential distress of firms. The approach determined in this study is to examine the financial statements of the UAE Islamic banks by calculating the EM Z‐score for the past three years and comparing it with the current year's score as an effort to measure the overall financial performance as well as the likelihood of bankruptcy of the UAE Islamic banks.

The paper finds that UAE Islamic banks should work on improving the ratios that are dragging their scores down to better understand their past performance and realize their current position in the industry; Z‐score can be adopted by the UAE Islamic banks as effective evaluation approach toward financing the potential long‐term partnership projects including small and medium business enterprises (SMEs); Z‐score model can be adapted by Islamic banks as an independent credit risk analysis approach to measure the competencies and financial strengths of potential projects; Islamic banks in the UAE are by and large financially sound and healthy and that Z‐score is a beneficial analytical tool that can be adapted by Islamic banks in the UAE to complement other financial analysis techniques to establish Islamic banking industry averages. The study also finds that the ratios used in calculating Z‐score can be considered to provide valuable instrumental indicators.

Z‐score model is a valid model to measure the performance of Islamic banks and the ratios used in calculating Z‐score can be considered to provide valuable instrumental indicators. Z‐score can be adopted by the UAE Islamic banks to finance long‐term partnership projects and SMEs. Limitations including the Islamic banking industry are still considered small size, which might has negative effect on the maximum outcomes of the study. Future studies are needed toward updating the coefficient values connected to each ratios in Z‐score model as per the inputs from the Islamic banking industry.

Z‐score model is a valid model to measure Islamic banks performance and the ratios used in calculating Z‐score can be considered to provide valuable instrumental indicators. Z‐score can be adopted by the UAE Islamic banks to finance long‐term partnership projects and SMEs.

The model is believed to widen the industry exposure in order to finance more projects and companies which is believed will reflect positively on the society welfare. By adopted Z‐score SMEs will be provided with all financings needed specially providing the microfinance for small projects.

Introducing Z‐score to the Islamic banking industry as crucial credit risk measuring tool.

This study aims at exploring the UAE banks' Basel II preparations. It is essential for the UAE banks to make adequate preparations to ensure their compliance with international standards and practices in the field of banking.

The author developed a modified version of the Ernst & Young questionnaire to examine the UAE banks' Basel II preparations. Five hypotheses have been formulated and tested.

Based on the results of the analysis in this study, it is concluded that the UAE banks are ready for the implementation of Basel II. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the UAE banks have sufficient resources for the implementation of Basel II, which represents a prerequisite for the implementation. The readiness of the UAE banks for implementing Basel II is also supported by the common understanding of Basel II by the employees of the UAE banks and the satisfactory level of education on Basel II. The results also indicate that there is no difference between UAE national and foreign banks in their readiness for the implementation of Basel II, which gives a positive impression about the competitive advantage of the national banks. Finally, the results support the importance of training and education on Basel II as one of the requirements of the implementation.

Improving the level of education on Basel II is still needed and this can be achieved because of the availability of the required resources and the awareness of the UAE banks of the benefits, the positive impact, and the challenges of the implementation of Basel II, as indicated by the results. The results also support the importance of training and education on Basel II as one of the requirements of the implementation.

The paper is important for the decision makers of the UAE banks and the regulators as the main objective of the study is to increase their awareness of the implementation of Basel II. The results would help the UAE banks to know the level of their Basel II preparations and what are the necessary steps that should be taken in this regard. The results would also help the regulators regarding the required steps that should be taken by the UAE Central Bank in order to motivate or encourage the UAE banks in implementing Basel II properly.

This paper aims to examine the determinants and extent of corporate social disclosure (CSD) by UAE national banks and to investigate the changes in CSD before, during and after the latest financial crisis.

Deductive in nature, this paper uses content analysis of annual reports of 16 UAE banks over a period of six years (2006-2011) to test eight hypotheses related to size, financial performance and other variables as potential explanatory variables of the CSD extent over different periods.

The findings show that human resources and community disclosures exhibited the highest extent of CSD over the six years. Moreover, the size and financial performance variables appear to be significant explanatory factors for the extent of CSD. The findings also indicate a strong variation in disclosure between banks with international presence and those with no such presence, while there is no significant disclosure variation between Islamic and conventional banks or during the different periods under investigation (pre, during and post recent financial crisis).

Studies allowing a greater understanding of how banks with extensive governmental ownership define and disclose CSR in this particular region of the world are scarce and exploratory in nature. Consequently, the structure of national UAE banks provides a unique opportunity to understand the CSR mechanisms and disclosure of similar institutions in the world (particularly in the Arab world). This presents an interesting direction for further research.

These findings could assist UAE bankers and policymakers in integrating CSD in their corporate strategies and help the local and international business communities in understanding the characteristics of CSD in the UAE.

Comprehensive in scope, this paper provides a complete assessment of the potential explanatory proxies of CSD by UAE local banks before, during and after the recent global financial crisis. Comparable studies of the UAE banking sector have mainly focused on particular bank types (i.e. Islamic or conventional) and did not consider the effect of the recent adverse financial climate.

The purpose of this research is to examine the degree to which the UAE banks use risk management practices and techniques in dealing with different types of risk. The secondary objective is to compare risk management practices between the two sets of banks.

The authors developed a modified questionnaire, divided into two parts. The first part covers six aspects: understanding risk and risk management; risk identification; risk assessment and analysis; risk monitoring; risk management practices; and credit risk analysis. This part includes 43 closed‐ended questions based on an interval scale. The second part consists of two closed‐ended questions based on an ordinal scale dealing with two topics: methods of risk identification, and risks facing the sample banks.

This study found that the three most important types of risk facing the UAE commercial banks are foreign exchange risk, followed by credit risk, then operating risk. It also found that the UAE banks are somewhat efficient in managing risk, and risk identification and risk assessment and analysis are the most influencing variables in risk management practices. Finally, the results indicate that there is a significant difference between the UAE national and foreign banks in the practice of risk assessment and analysis, and in risk monitoring and controlling.

The article will be of value to those interested in the banking industry.

This study aims to investigate the extent and trend of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure by UAE listed banks and the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on this disclosure.

Content analysis of banks’ annual reports from 2009 to 2019 was applied to investigate the CSR disclosure level by constructing a disclosure index. Panel data regressions were applied to analyze the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on CSR disclosure.

UAE banks show an improving trend in the CSR disclosures. In addition, the board of directors and ownership structure are significantly and positively associated with the CSR disclosures. The results vary across the banking systems.

This study considers the extent of the CSR disclosure in UAE banks’ annual reports, and future research should consider more industries and communication channels.

This study sheds light on the extent of the CSR disclosure of UAE listed banks and assists UAE policymakers in implementing appropriate corporate governance mechanisms.

The findings provide banks with a better understanding of the benefits of strengthening corporate governance to improve their CSR disclosure.

This study contributes to the literature by constructing a more comprehensive disclosure index and examining the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on CSR disclosure by considering both the conventional and Islamic banking systems.

This paper aims to investigate customer attitude towards the use of emerging social media platforms (SMPs) for promotional activities by United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Islamic banks, particularly, in the post-COVID-19 era. The key drivers of this research include analysing, anticipating and providing recommendations to reinvigorate the marketing and promotional strategies of the UAE Islamic banks to spark renewed customer interest.

This study is anticipatory and descriptive in nature. Primary data is used to understand customer perception towards the use of emerging social media marketing tools by the UAE-based Islamic banks. Reliability, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis are applied to understand customer attitude. While focusing on the current COVID-19 scenario, the need for innovative structure is envisaged to meet the post-COVID-19 needs.

The findings of this research highlight the significance of emerging SMPs such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Pinterest, Viber, Snapchat and their application as promotional tools to inspire the purchase intention of customers in this virtual age. The results of the study reveal these emerging SMPs are predicted to be used as the preferred promotional tools for Islamic banks.

This paper is limited to the UAE Islamic banks and to a specified set of SMPs as promotional tools. Nevertheless, its findings have important implications that can be extended and validated through studying the post-COVID-19 customer attitude towards other innovative promotional tools used by commercial banks in general and Islamic banks in particular, in the GCC and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.

There is currently limited available research on the innovative social media marketing techniques and promotional strategies. This study is a novel attempt to examine the adoption of the emerging SMPs as promotional tools by the UAE Islamic banks. This paper extends value to the existing studies on the impact of the pandemic on the promotional activities of the UAE Islamic banking industry. Nonetheless, while regionally specific, it is valuable in its potential application to the Islamic banking sector in the entire GCC and MENA region in the post-COVID-19 era.

This paper aims to explore the online corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication by domestic and global banks operating in the United Arab Emirates.

Through a qualitative content analysis, the study examines the strategies banks use to market their CSR initiatives on their corporate websites. CSR marketing strategies are classified with reference to Kotler and Lee’s (2005) categorization.

The analysis indicates that overall, all CSR marketing strategies, as proposed by Kotler and Lee (2005), are used by the domestic UAE banks with the most frequently used being cause-promotion, philanthropy and socially responsible business practices. Government owned and conventional banks display patterns congruent to the communications observed in the global sample. Islamic banks have a less diversified approach relying mostly on philanthropy with only one Islamic bank using four of the six strategies.

The present study provides insight into how CSR is communicated within one of the largest industries in the fast-growing economy of the UAE. The observations reported here could help corporate communication practitioners and managers in domestic corporations that contribute to the Islamic economy to understand how to benchmark better and to communicate more effectively about their CSR.

The purpose of this paper is to identify any differences between the Islamic and non‐Islamic banks in the UAE on credit risk management.

The study uses survey based methodology for data collection. The sample for the study consists of six commercial banks from UAE with three non‐Islamic and three Islamic banks and with 148 credit risk managers as respondents for the survey. The study aims to investigate factors which distinguish between Islamic and non‐Islamic banks in UAE. This is achieved by fitting a binary logistic regression model.

The study shows that the managers in Islamic banks now do not rely only on personal experiences and simple credit risk analysis. The Islamic banks appear also to be developing and practising the newer and robust techniques, in addition to traditional methods, to manage their credit risk in UAE compared to non‐Islamic banks, which indicates a possibility of further improvement in their credit risk management.

The paper uses questionnaire‐based methodology, which has not been used previously in the UAE financial sector, as well as in studies of credit risk management. Therefore, this research could become the cornerstone of further academic research in other developing countries using this methodology.

Communicating CSR through corporate websites is one of the most effective ways for organizations to inform and engage stakeholders, earn legitimacy and reap the intangible and tangible benefits of practicing CSR. However, in emerging economies in the Middle East, online CSR disclosure remains limited while corporate websites are not used effectively as strategic tools. This study explores online CSR communication (CSRC) by banks in the dynamic, emerging economy of the United Arab Emirates.

The study uses an adaptation of the analytical framework used by Chaudhri and Wang (2007) to examine the prominence and extent of the CSR information on the corporate websites of domestic and global banks in the UAE. It further compares domestic and global banks' CSRC patterns as well as domestic/government-owned versus private banks and conventional versus Islamic banks.

About 70% of the domestic banks in the UAE provide information about their CSR activities. CSR information is moderately to highly prominent for the majority of the domestic banks, but the extent of the information presented is minimal (1–2 pages). Domestic/government-owned and conventional banks communicate their CSR more prominently and extensively than private and Islamic banks. Domestic/government-owned banks tend to follow the CSRC patterns observed in global banks.

Despite the increasingly important role of the United Arab Emirates within the Middle East as well as on the global business arena, very little is known about whether and how companies in the country approach CSR. This is the first study focusing on CSRC within the entirety of a single business sector within the United Arab Emirates.