Research in Corporate and Shari’ah Governance in the Muslim World: Theory and Practice

This chapter aims to provide the fundamental grounds in shari'ah for corporate governance. It searches the main sources of Islamic teachings around the main pillars for corporate governance and describes the basic norms built for the foundation of corporate governance in the Islamic framework. This chapter also provides numerous original evidences linking principles of corporate governance to the main objectives of shari'ah. In the end, this chapter presents the review of the included chapters in the current volume.

The concept of corporate governance is not new for institutions and organizations. The topic came into light after the financial crisis and frauds done by the companies. The topic of Islamic finance also gained momentum. Islamic Financial Services Board, Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions, regulatory authorities of Islamic financial institutions and Islamic financial institutions themselves paid attention to the topic of corporate governance. Governance have critical place in Islam as human beings are answerable to Allah (swt) for acts, deeds, and fulfillment of responsibilities as vicegerent. This chapter focuses on the importance of corporate governance and differences between the corporate governance from conventional and Islamic point of view. How the topic of governance was discussed during the time of Holy Prophet (PBUH), different examples of the countries focusing on corporate governance are shared in this chapter.

This conceptual chapter develops a discussion expounding the Islamic perspective of corporate governance as a special case of a broader decision-making theory that uses the premise of Islamic socio-scientific epistemology. This chapter contributes fresh knowledge in corporate governance theory in the light of two central issues. First, the central issue is of organic preference formation studied systemically by process model. The second issue is of transaction cost minimization while pursuing such a discursive and participatory model of decision-making in an environment governed by a systemic meaning of unity of knowledge as its episteme. Relevant institutional policies are shown to be capable of formulation in the light of such systemic discursion under the episteme of unity of knowledge understood and applied in the systemic organic sense.

This chapter presents the hetrodox theory of Islamic finance in regard to the theme of corporate governance in the light of the particular Islamic epistemological premise. A vast social implication of corporate governance is opened by its epistemological inquiry comprehending integrated decision making and systemic complementarities expending across society at large. Thereby, a socio-financial theory of corporate governance in the epistemological context is elaborated upon. This is a path-breaking chapter premised on its epistemological approach of unity of knowledge and learning systems as a distinct contribution to the theory of corporate governance in the field of ethical socio-financial perspective.

This chapter tries to find that how to reduce transaction cost in corporate governance by subjecting it institutionally to ethics and values of interactive and consensual decision making with transparency gained from participation between managers and shareholders/stakeholders and the community at large. This is an epistemological problem in Islamic approach to corporate governance. This chapter brings these out in technical language and methodology. An analytical epistemological and comparative study between mainstream and Islamic conceptions in corporate governance is used to develop the idea mentioned above. The analytical model used is of an ethico-economic general equilibrium type with learning variables. This chapter conveys an original idea that has not been taken up elsewhere. It reflects the systems approach to the study of behavior in corporate setting within the epistemology of systemic unity of knowledge.

In this chapter muamalah contracts are developed through the derivation of the respective rules from the requirement of shari'ah, not only avoiding the prohibited items in commercial transaction but at the same time enforcing the rights of parties to the contract in accordance with the contractual needs. Thus, these contracts safeguard the parties from being victim of the other in pursuing their commercial gains. The study examines the requirement of mudarabah and musyarakah contracts in the context of the relationship between shareholders and corporation as a foundation of a sound corporate governance mechanism. It is derived that the muamalah contracts if applied in its true nature are capable of defining and protecting the rights of all parties ridding crucial corporate governance concern which are mostly incited by the distrust of the parties in the running of the corporation and generation of benefits.

A decade after 2008 crisis, scholars in mainstream field of finance are yet to proffer lasting solutions to the menace that target the root cause of the crisis. Islamic finance offers a simple message for the whole episode and others similar to it: introduction of God consciousness, removal of interest from the system, and its replacement with profit and loss sharing together with establishment of an ethic base corporate governance structure. Absence of ethical considerations is the main factor for financial crisis in the past hundred years. Models utilized by Islamic finance industry for financing and sharing of risk are musharakah and mudarabah. This chapter provides an overview of risk management and governance in both Islamic and conventional finance in the process outlining similarities and differences between the systems. It dissected through developments in the two fields and highlighted recent controversial topics affecting the field of finance in the modern world.

This chapter explicates inter-firm governance mechanisms and suggests employing similar approaches for managing corporate governance issues in an Islamic business setting. A number of theoretical approaches outline the motivation of business firms to choose between contractual versus non-contractual governance mechanisms in inter-firm business transactions. In addition, a number of socioeconomic and transactional factors also affect inter-firm governance choices. Obviously, a number of country-specific transactional elements affect corporate governance. Therefore, the chapter suggests that preferences for governance mechanisms may provide guidelines for corporate governance, particularly in an Islamic business context.

Islamic financial institutions offer a different paradigm from conventional institutions. From corporate governance (CG) viewpoint, it embodies a number of interesting features since equity participation and profit-and-loss sharing arrangements form the basis of Islamic financing. These financial arrangements imply different stakeholder relationships and governance structures, and distinct from the conventional model since depositors have a direct financial stake in the bank's investment and equity participations. On top of that, the Islamic bank is subject to an additional layer of governance since the suitability of its investment and financing must be in strict conformity with Islamic law and the expectations of the Muslim community. Other form of governance such as accounting standards have also been an issue whether they have met the reporting requirement of Islamic financial institutions that carry title as “Islamic” as there is no uniformity. Therefore, there should be concerted efforts to revisit the existing good CG and accounting standards for Islamic financial institutions.

Recent accounting literature and Agency theory have predicted that corporate governance assists the convergence of interests between shareholders and managers, and thus enhances the quality of financial reporting. This chapter discusses some of the empirical studies on corporate governance in Saudi Arabia; it also elaborates on the corporate governance regulations introduced by Capital Market Authority in Saudi Arabia. Studies cover various subjects that interact with corporate governance, such as earnings management, corporate social responsibility disclosure, ownership structure, environmental disclosure and voluntary disclosure in annual reports of Saudi's listed firms. It also discusses the effectiveness and determinants of corporate governance structures, such as the board of directors, audit committee and other sub-committees. Results were generally in line with previous research from the developed countries, but sometimes there are contradictions, and these results have been discussed and explained, and implications to regulators and investors are drawn where possible.

The study explores how financial institutes in Saudi Arabia report compliance with shari'ah teachings in terms of improving its legitimacy. The study covers all banks and insurance companies listed in Saudi stock market from 2012 to 2015. Around 181 annual reports were investigated by employing content analysis approach. The results show some trends toward more compliance with shariah teachings. Nevertheless, this is still below, especially for insurance companies. Analysis of variance suggests that banks are more likely to report about their compliance with shariah teachings than insurance companies. The conclusions that can be drafted about these results are that the nature of products and social attributes might influence the attitude of financial institutes to show their compliance with shari'ah teachings, reflecting the aim of the company to present its legitimacy.

Shari'ah governance is a vital aspect that ensures internal shari'ah compliance function in Islamic financial industry, including the takaful industry. Shari'ah audit is a component of shari'ah governance in any Islamic institution as it independently attests the state of shari'ah compliance. Besides, it contributes towards shari'ah non-compliance risk management and enhances the quality of internal shari'ah audit function. The main aim for this chapter is to discuss the scopes and processes of shari'ah audit function in takaful operation. In addition, a discussion on applicable key controls in takaful operation is also provided. This chapter provides an insight into shari'ah audit implementation in a takaful operator, based on the information solicited from an interview session with its shari'ah auditor. This chapter provides fundamental aspects of shari'ah audit exercise in takaful operation and raises takaful operator's views on the challenges and adequacy of guidelines on shari'ah audit for its effective implementation.

This chapter assesses the effects of corporate governance (CG) variables on the level of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD), Shari'ah Supervisory Board Disclosure (SSBD), and Financial Disclosure (FD) for Islamic banks. This study, based on a sample of 95 Islamic banks, assessed this in 2013. The findings suggest that CG mechanisms, firm's age, auditor and shari'ah auditing department are effective in influencing SSBD, CSRD, and FD practices in Islamic banks. This chapter encourages regulators to improve CG mechanisms in their Islamic banking systems through the optimization of ownership structure (dispersed ownership) and the board's characteristics in order to promote transparency and disclosure. Moreover, the findings support theoretical arguments that firms disclose CG information in order to mitigate information asymmetry and agency costs and to improve investor confidence in the reported financial statements. The empirical evidence of this study enhances the understanding of the CG disclosure environment in Islamic banks as a promoting new financial system.

To meet the philosophical underpinnings of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), a sound shari'ah governance framework (SGF) for each and every IFI is vital. Establishment of a proper SGF is central for smooth and effective functioning of an IFI. In the periphery of shari'ah governance (SG), the role of Shari'ah Supervisory Boards (SSB) is considerably crucial. SSB constitutes one of the most important SG elements in a given IFI. One of the central objectives of SGF is to protect and boost the authenticity of IFIs among its stakeholders, which is instrumental for the resilience and growth of the industry. To achieve this, it is required that an end-to-end shari'ah assurance process is functionalised at IFIs. To this end, external shari'ah audit, which is a process of objectively evaluating the entire operations of an IFI from shari'ah perspective and ascertaining that all events are based on shari'ah principles, is of paramount significance.

The prime difference between conventional and Islamic financial institutions (IFIs)is the compliance with shari'ah. Hence, shari'ah is a very crucial pillar, rather a main pillar of Islamic finance. In order to ensure shari'ah compliance by the IFIs at all levels, central banks of different countries crafted and implemented shari'ah governance framework. This chapter focusses on the cross-country comparison of shari'ah governance framework. The countries included in this chapter are Malaysia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and Bahrain. The result shows that Malaysia and Pakistan are leading in terms of comprehensive shari'ah governance framework whereas Bahrain comes next and the United Kingdom is the last in terms of comparison.

Muslim investors must comply with the ethical injunctions prescribed for them while making financial investments. As per Islamic principles, the use of Riba (interest), Maysir (gambling) and Gharar (uncertain or contingent payoff contracts) is prohibited. This chapter provides some recent post great financial crisis evidence on the comparative performance of Islamic and conventional market indices. Islamic indices outperformed conventional market indices in terms of annualized returns except for emerging markets. In the overall period of 2007-16, it is found that Islamic indices have a lower coefficient of variation and hence higher reward to variability ratio. This suggests that Islamic indices are superior to conventional market indices adjusting for variability in returns. In most comparable Islamic and conventional indices, a strong co-movement and long-term co-integrating relationship is found. The results also highlighted causality running from conventional indices to the Islamic indices in most of the market groups, except for the S&P Global.

This chapter aims to highlight the background of Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA). It also highlights experiences of Malaysia in dealing with IFSA. The analysis is tackled along the lines of the background and the constitutional frameworks of the country, the initiatives introduced by the government for the development of shari’ah compliance within the Islamic banking and finance fraternity as well as the relevant organs in carrying out the audit exercises over the Islamic banks and financial institutions in Malaysia. The chapter critically elucidates the implementation of the IFSA and its impact on shari’ah governance. It concludes by suggesting that the areas in the constitutional legal framework of the contemporary Islamic finance in Malaysia support the development of the Islamic banking and finance fraternity as with the shari’ah compliance of the same and it applies to all cooperative society.

This chapter explores the historical development of shari’ah governance infrastructures in the Malaysian landscape, pre- and post-Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA) and its implications on the industry. This chapter analyzed two approaches developed in the shari’ah governance, namely, the inclusivity and uniformity approach. Inclusivity approach showed that the shari’ah compliance responsibility is shared inclusively by the shari’ah committee together with the institution’s top management. While the uniformity approach showed that the end-to-end shari’ah compliance is achieved through issuance of shari’ah standards that can be easily related by the practitioners into their banking operations and business. The coherence implementation of these approaches has enabled another important stakeholder, the judiciary to have more clarity and certainty in dealing with matters pertaining to Islamic banking and finance. Consumers’ trust and confidence in the financial sector is thereby secured and sustained, hence providing financial stability within the industry, which meets with the expectation and mandate given to IFSA.

The most crucial challenge facing Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) is the full compliance of their activities with shari'ah principles. The complexity of IFIs requires Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK, Indonesian Financial Services Authority) to adopt a good shari'ah governance framework to address shari'ah risks of Islamic banking and financial institutions (IBFIs). However, the current shari'ah governance structure in Indonesia is far from ideal compared to the international best practice. This chapter proposes a new shari'ah governance framework by involving shari'ah supervisory board authority (Otoritas Dewan Pengawas Syariah) under the commissioners of OJK to oversight, regulate, and supervise the shari'ah matters for IBFIs in Indonesia. The chapter discusses the challenges in adopting this new framework. The chapter concludes that the current shortcomings of the proper shari'ah governance framework for shari'ah supervision and regulation requires a new shari'ah board authority under the commissioners of OJK who has full authority over shari'ah matters.

This chapter summarizes the current practice of shari'ah governance framework of Islamic banking entities (IBEs) in Oman and the challenges faced by such institutions. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) issued proper shari'ah governance framework enshrined in the Islamic Banking Regulatory Framework of CBO. The shari'ah governance framework shall contain shari'ah supervisory board, internal shari'ah reviewer, shari'ah compliance unit, shari'ah risk unit, and shari'ah audit unit. To strengthen the role of shari'ah, the CBO also issued a regulation for the establishment of High Shari'ah Supervisory Authority in CBO to harmonize opinions related to shari'ah matters among the IBEs. These elements are expected to perform an oversight role on shari'ah matters relating to Islamic banking business activities. This chapter also discusses the issues and challenges faced by IBEs in Oman, and proposed some improvement to the CBO to strengthen shari'ah governance framework in the Sultanate.

Shari'ah governance is a major part of governance of Islamic banking institutions (IBIs). Pakistan is the country where pioneering work on Islamic banking and finance has been conducted since 1970s. Major changes were made in 2002 and then in 2015 in the Islamic banking governance framework. This chapter critically analyses as to what extent the ‘shari'ah governance framework’ (SGF) introduced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in 2015 could be able to ensure compliance of Islamic banks' practices with the principles of shari'ah. The SBP, the regulator of banking system, has been doing its intensive efforts to ensure shari'ah compliance, and as such the SGF introduced by it is a good ‘case study’ on the subject. By applying the descriptive and analytical methodology, it examines the strengths and weaknesses and suggests how the gaps could be filled to make the SGF really effective for achieving the objective.

Cooperatives are formed with the idea of cooperation. Due to their features, cooperatives have the potential to address the issue of poverty alleviation and improvement in income distribution, which currently is the central focus of governments' economic policy making. Currently, Islamic cooperatives or shari'ah-based cooperatives have also been developing well. Shari'ah-based cooperative is essentially the transformation of conventional cooperative through an approach in line with the Shari'ah principles. It could be one of the best solutions in supporting Islamic banking and finance for unbankable customers. This chapter describes the development of cooperatives in Malaysia and Indonesia. The chapter also discusses the need for cooperative governance and highlights the features of cooperatives that results to their governance is more complex that the governance of business organisations. This chapter also highlights laws, regulation and shari'ah governance measures taken by both jurisdictions to promote growth of shari'ah-based cooperatives.

This chapter highlights the variations of agency theory in the unique and complex context of Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia. The results provide an insight into agency structures in the context of Islamic banking that may lead to trade-offs between shari'ah compliance and mechanisms for protecting the rights of investors. This empirical study finds that most of the surveyed Islamic banks appear to recognize the value of governance and have implemented some basic mechanisms. Certain flaws in governance pertaining to audit, control, and transparency were also noted. The situation gets worse in cases where the investment account holders do not have any representation on the board or any voice for control or monetary rights. Other peculiar models balancing the two key requirements may be effective regarding agency dynamics. This study should motivate the policy makers to tailor the regulations to safeguard the interests of all investors without violating the principles of shari'ah.

This chapter examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices by Islamic banks (IBs) in Bangladesh and to identify how these initiatives impact on citizens in a positive and a productive manner without compromising the ethics and values. CSR data and the information of seven IBs in Bangladesh were considered to analyse sector-wise CSR expenditures, as well as in the specialised areas focussing on religious values, from 2007–2010. Results indicate that most of the IBs are committed to CSR practice. This may motivate conventional banks to spend more on CSR to compete with their counterparts. Consequently, the total inflow of resources from the banks towards social wellbeing may also increase. The study finds that IBs share some common areas in conducting CSR activities similar to their conventional counterparts. IBs are also engaged in some additional areas due to their mandatory compliance with the shari’ah. The study finds a significantly increasing trend of CSR expenditures and engagements by IBs.

In literature, a vast number of researches have tried to analyse the interaction between different financing methods and corporate governance. Some believe that good corporate governance companies are more successful in equity financing whereas others believe in positive relationship between corporate governance and debt finance. In this chapter, the authors analyse the interaction between sukuk financing and corporate governance. The authors first tried to differentiate between the financer and company's point of view in the financing decisions of different corporate governance quality companies, and then showed that, theoretically, there should be a positive relationship between murabahah sukuk and ijarah sukuk issuance and the corporate governance quality of companies in both types of views. The corporate governance characteristics of sukuk issuing companies in Iran are also analysed. The results from model estimation confirmed theoretical conclusion and corporate governance variables had positive and significant effects on the Sukuk issuance among Iranian Sukuk issuer companies.

The aim of this chapter is to investigate factors affecting four of the gaps encompassed in the GAP model, which then results in Gap 5, the so-called customer gap, related to the variance between customer expectations and the perception of service quality (SQ). Four predictors were selected based on the literature review – marketing research orientation (MRO), service specification design (SSD), integrated technology (ITC) and integrated communication (ICO) – to examine their relationship with the customer gap. A valid and reliable questionnaire, developed for the purpose of the study, was used to collect data from a sample consisting of 600 employees from six hotels located in Amman, Jordan. The findings show that MRO, SSD, ITC and ICO significantly predict the four gaps in SQ on the provider side, which in turn significantly predict the customer gap. For companies, more attention should be paid to the four gaps that induce the customer gap.

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to investigate whether internal attributes of corporate governance such as board size, board composition, CEO duality, board meetings, blockholders' ownership, managerial ownership, CEO remuneration, and directors' remuneration affect the capital structure (i.e., total debt ratio, long-term debt ratio, and short-term debt ratio) choice of non-financial firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited during 2009–2014. Second, whether theories relevant to corporate governance developed in western settings provide support to understand the financing behavior of firms in a developing country, Pakistan. In sum, results indicate that corporate governance measures have some role in shaping the financing behavior of firms. It is worth mention that each company is bound to explicitly confirm in annual report regarding compliance with code of corporate governance, but results indicate a different story. For instance, descriptive statistics indicate that five individual larger shareholders on average hold more than 68% shares.

This chapter looks at the relationship between governance and economic development in selected Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries. This chapter outlines the concept of good governance in Islamic faith and episteme and provides some empirical evidence on the governance development nexus in the literature. It also describes the state of governance in OIC countries through descriptive statistics on some indicators. It looks at the relationship between governance and economic development. In contrast, it explores the relationship between governance and economic growth. The results highlight the need for reforms in the quality of institutions, establishing rule of law, emphasising on governance in the policy agenda and bringing strong accountability mechanisms.

This chapter aims to explore and examine the extent of Islamic corporate governance practices in 35 Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia, Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the United Kingdom, particularly in its six major areas, namely approaches to Islamic governance, regulatory framework and internal policies, roles and functions of shari’ah board, attributes of shari’ah board members on independence, competency and transparency, and confidentiality, operational procedures and perception of IFIs of the shari’ah board’s performance. A questionnaire was developed by benefiting from the Islamic corporate governance standards identified by International Financial Services Board and Accounting and Auditing Organization for IFIs, which included mainly about 50 standards with sub-sections as questions. The study demonstrates the state of Islamic corporate governance practices in these countries. The survey findings affirm that there are significant differences and diverse Islamic governance practices amongst IFIs in the case countries. The study hence provides evidence that there are shortcomings and weaknesses to the existing governance framework, which needs further enhancement and improvement.

This chapter uses panel data techniques to analyze the impact of corporate governance and competition on performance of the firms operating in Muslim and non-Muslim economies. Also analyzed the corporate data of 3,158 firms operating in five non-Muslim economies and 1,785 firms operating in five Muslim economies. It is observed from the results that most of the firm-level variables have similar behavior with firm performance irrespective of ownership structure. It is also found that direct majority-owned firms are more profitable as compared to independent firms irrespective of the operating region. Further, it is also observed that operating environment, specifically governance system, has significant impacts on firm performance.