Search results

This paper aims to provide a reflective discussion on the different avenues of blockchain application in Islamic finance in promoting trust and transparency for increased accountability between parties involved in the delivery of Sharīʿah-compliant products and services.

This paper discusses on blockchain benefits in Islamic finance while providing an illustration with smart Sukuk. Having identified the advantages of the development of Islamic financial technology (i-FinTech), this study ends by debating a couple of challenges (computational codification of Sharīʿah principles and environmental impact) that have to be addressed to promote the development of a real sustainable Islamic FinTech.

This paper also identifies two challenges in using blockchain in i-Fintech. The first challenge refers to the extent to which Sharīʿah principles can be computationally encoded. Blockchain makes public all transactions that ease Sharīʿah compliance checks and determine if these transactions are Islamic in nature but this check can be done only after their operation. The second challenge is related to the algorithmic protocol used to validate smart contracts (including smart Sukuk). This situation calls into question the principles of Maqasid al-Sharīʿah according to which transactions should not harm society.

In the current debates related to the development of Islamic FinTech, this paper also identifies two challenges in using blockchain in i-Fintech.

The purpose of this paper is to explain and critically analyse the Sharīʿah screening criteria and cleansing process for income generated from stocks with a special focus on a newly developed ISRA-Bloomberg methodology.

The paper focuses on the methodology of ISRA-Bloomberg in terms of Sharīʿah screening of stocks and the income cleansing process. To achieve this objective, this paper adopts a descriptive approach.

The methodology of ISRA-Bloomberg is unique in terms of its criterion for screening stocks, the cleansing process and coverage of the universe of stocks. It facilitates the investors by offering a novel colour-coding scheme to indicate the Sharīʿah compliance of a stock. It also provides the exact ratios of the Sharīʿah-compliance criteria to the investors so they can closely observe changes in the trend of ratios and decide beforehand whether or not a company is likely to remain within the Sharīʿah-compliant list. The paper further discusses the issues in the screening and cleansing practices faced by the industry.

This research is limited to the criteria of screening and income purification of stocks which have been used by ISRA-Bloomberg from a Sharīʿah perspective.

The robust screening criteria and comprehensive analysis of the stocks will enhance the confidence of Islamic capital market participants. The investors, regulators and index providers will be equally able to benefit from this initiative.

The paper focuses on the recently established methodology of ISRA-Bloomberg, which has not been discussed in the literature until now. The methodology, because of its exceptionality, may add a new dimension to Sharīʿah screening and cleansing of stocks.

Nowadays, the competition is not only emerging from within the banking sector, but nonbanking companies like nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs) and FinTech are also growing in size and numbers, offering innovative financial products and services, giving a stiff competition to Indian banks. Thus, this study aims to investigate whether competition from within and outside the banking sector enhances or reduces the financial stability of the banking industry.

The study uses Herfindahl–Hirschman index to measure market share and Z score to measure financial stability. The study further examines the role of NBFCs and FinTech companies in impacting the financial stability by introducing variables like innovation, cybercrimes, systemically important institutions, etc. Thereafter, panel regression has been applied.

Empirical results show a positive relation of market share with financial stability, implying that increased competition in the Indian banking industry erodes the market power, adversely affecting the profit margins which encourages banks to take more risk and which may impact financial stability. The study shows a positive impact of innovation on financial stability which implies that the competition is acting as an enabler for banks. The authors find a negative relation of systemic important NBFCs with financial stability. The authors observe a negative association of cybercrimes with financial stability, reflecting that competition emerging from FinTech sector has exposed banks to new risks.

The policymakers should make sure that the competition of banks with other financial institutions, such as FinTech sector, remains healthy; otherwise, it can jeopardize the entire financial system. It is for the policymakers to define a boundary for FinTech sector, as the development of this sector has exposed the banking industry to new kinds of risks potential to create financial instability. The banks should do a comprehensive check on the company to which it is granting loans, and the government should amend laws. Though big banks have huge potential, consolidations can pose challenges at a macroeconomic level.

FinTech firms are a new entrant in the financial world which are providing immense competition to the banking sector, and thus radically changing the entire financial system. Therefore, it is extremely vital to study and explore the role of NBFCs and the FinTech industry as the main variable to analyze bank competition, which to the best of the authors’ knowledge is completely missing in the previous studies.

The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze the key topics on which scholars have engaged in relation to crowdfunding and its starring role in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from an Islamic perspective. A Structured Literature Review (SLR) is used in this study to assess how scholars carried out their studies in order to better understand future research directions.

The study adopted a SLR methodology and considered 89 peer-reviewed studies published between 1981 and 2021 in GCC countries.

The study identified the starring role of crowdfunding from the Islamic perspective, its role in economic development and its role as a source of finance for new business startups in GCC countries.

Because the research was conducted by a single person, his subjective interpretation might have an impact on the results. Furthermore, only journal papers limited to GCC and published between 1981 and 2021 were examined.

Countries in GCC might recognize the starring role of crowdfunding for their SMEs and economic development.

The authors draw avenues for future research by considering the starring role of crowdfunding using SLR from the Islamic perspective. This helps future researchers to identify the starring role of crowdfunding to contextualize in GCC countries.

This study aims to examine the factors that affect individuals’ intention of participating in donation crowdfunding in the context of Oman.

This study used the self-determination theory. A total of 250 respondents from Oman participated. The data is collected by online survey and analyses by using the partial least squares technique.

The results illustrate that sense of self-worth, perceived donor effectiveness and moral obligation positively affect donation intention (DI) towards crowdfunding projects. Furthermore, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control positively impact individuals’ intention to contribute to donation crowdfunding.

The results contribute to the literature on donation crowdfunding by identifying the driving forces of individuals’ DI to crowdfunding projects in Oman.

This paper aims to study the FinTech enterprises and the management theories related to this subject in a scientific way.

This study is a bibliometric study on FinTech enterprises. Its origin is a survey of 1,749 papers in 6 traditional peer-reviewed academic databases (e.g. Science Direct and Scopus) and in the “gray” literature, published by other agents and not subject to double-blind peer review. In this analysis we use three approaches: academic paper or not; journal main interest, and main purpose of the paper.

The first approach shows 45% of papers without blind review. The second approach shows no concentration on any journal. It represents no concentration on any kind of specific journal. And the third approach shows four kinds of contents in all researched papers: FinTech categorizations; FinTech related to theory of disruptive innovation; FinTech and theories of administration or economy; and finally, FinTech and regulatory and legislative aspects.

The findings identified the emergence of new research strands, precedence of studies of “gray” literature to explain the phenomenon, distribution of studies in different fields of knowledge (e.g. information technology, business and law) and lack of consensus in theories to explain the matter.