Absent Regions: Spaces of Financialisation in the Arab World

This paper examines processes of financialisation in the Arab world, a region that has been almost completely absent from the wider financial literature. The paper shows that financialisation is much more than simply the expansion of financial markets within neatly bounded sets of social relations operating at the national scale. In the Arab world, financialisation has been marked by the growing weight of regional finance capital—most specifically, those capital groups based in the Gulf Cooperation Council—in circuits of capital operating at all scales. This has important implications for processes of class and state formation. Approaching financialisation in this manner—moving away from methodologically nationalist assumptions and the literature's largely singular focus on the advanced capitalist core—brings into focus the significance of cross-scalar accumulation patterns, their spatial hierarchies, and geographic unevenness. The paper thus reaffirms the need for a more spatially sensitive approach to financialisation

Dynamic correlations and volatility linkages between stocks and sukuk: evidence from international markets

An understanding of volatility and co-movements in financial markets is important for portfolio allocation and risk management practices. The current financial crisis caused a shrinkage in values of most assets, an increased volatility and a threat to the survival of several institutional investors. Managing risks and returns within the classic portfolio theory, when correlations across securities soar, is increasingly challenging. In this paper, we investigate the volatility behavior and the co-movements between sukuk and international stock indexes. Symmetric multivariate GARCH models with dynamic conditional correlations (DCC) were estimated under student-t distribution. We provide evidence of high correlations between sukuk and US and EU stock markets, without finding the well-known flight to quality behavior affecting Islamic bonds. We also show that volatility linkages between sukuk and regional market indexes are higher during financial crisis. We argue that investors could obtain diversification benefits including sukuk in a well \u2013diversified equity portfolio, given their lower volatility compared to equity. But higher volatility linkages and dynamic correlations during financial crises show that they are hybrid instruments between bonds and equity. Our findings are relevant for institutional investors and asset managers, that include Islamic bonds in a diversified portfolio

Ramifications of varying banking regulations on performance of Islamic Banks

Recent financial crises have highlighted the importance of banking regulations to hedge against the high risk accredited to imbalances in banks' balance sheets. Nonetheless, banking regulations may have adverse effects. On the one hand, they serve as prudential measures that alleviate the effects of crises on the stability of the banking system while on the other hand; they may increase the cost of intermediation and reduce banks' profitability. Implementation of non-suitable regulations such as Islamic banks adopting conventional banks regulations could also impair banks' performance. This paper analyses the linkages between bank regulatory and supervisory structures associated with Basel III's pillars has any significant impact on Islamic banks' performance in Asia and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) using two-step Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) technique. Findings suggest that regulatory variables are positively significant with Islamic banks' performance in Asian region but not in the GCC

Higher ethical objective (Maqasid al-Shari'ah) augmented framework for Islamic banks : assessing the ethical performance and exploring its determinants.

This study utilises higher objectives postulated in Islamic moral economy or the maqasid al-Shari’ah theoretical framework’s novel approach in evaluating the ethical, social, environmental and financial performance of Islamic banks. Maqasid al-Shari’ah is interpreted as achieving social good as a consequence in addition to well-being and, hence, it goes beyond traditional (voluntary) social responsibility. This study also explores the major determinants that affect maqasid performance as expressed through disclosure analysis. By expanding the traditional maqasid al-Shari’ah,, we develop a comprehensive evaluation framework in the form of a maqasid index, which is subjected to a rigorous disclosure analysis. Furthermore, in identifying the main determinants of the maqasid disclosure performance, panel data analysis is used by including several key variables alongside political and socio-economic environment, ownership structures, and corporate and Shari’ah governance-related factors. The sample includes 33 full-fledged Islamic banks from 12 countries for the period of 2008–2016. The findings show that although during the nine-year period the disclosure of maqasid performance of the sampled Islamic banks has improved, this is still short of ‘best practices’. Through panel data analysis, this study finds that the Muslim population indicator, CEO duality, Shari’ah governance, and leverage variables positively impact the disclosure of maqasid performance. However, the effect of GDP, financial development and human development index of the country, its political and civil rights, institutional ownership, and a higher share of independent directors have an overall negative impact on the maqasid performance. The findings reported in this study identify complex and multi-faceted relations between external market realities, corporate and Shari’ah governance mechanisms, and maqasid performance

The Inter-temporal relationship between Risk, Capital and Efficiency: The case of Islamic and conventional banks

The paper investigates the relationship between risk, capital and efficiency for Islamic and conventional banks using a dataset spanning 14 countries over the 2000-2012 period. We use the z-score as a proxy for insolvency risk, cost efficiency is estimated via a stochastic frontier approach and capitalisation is reflected on the equity to assets ratio. An array of bank-specific, macroeconomic and market structure variables are used in a system of three equations, estimated using the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) technique. We find that the capitalisation response to increases in insolvency risk is more pronounced for Islamic banks but has an approximately five-times smaller effect on risk mitigation compared to conventional banks. Higher cost efficiency is related to lower risk for conventional banks, but the opposite is true for Islamic banks. The link between cost efficiency and capitalisation attests to a substitutional effect for the case of conventional banks, but a complementary effect for Islamic banks. Our findings give new insights on the use of efficiency to gauge capital requirements for financial institutions and are particularly relevant for regulators and policy makers in countries where both bank types operate

Integration of Islamic bank specific risks and their impact on the portfolios of Islamic Banks

Purpose This study aims to propose a risk management framework for Islamic banks to address specific risks that are unique to Islamic bank settings. Design/methodology/approach A unique methodology has been developed first by exploring the dynamics and behaviors of various risks unique to Islamic banks. Second, it integrates them through a series of diagrams that show how they behave, integrate and impact risk, returns and portfolios. Findings This study proposes a unique risk-return relationship framework encompassing specific risks faced by Islamic banks under the ambit of portfolio theory showing how Islamic banks establish a steeper risk-return path under Shariah compliance. By doing so, this study identifies a unique “Islamic risk-return” nexus in Islamic settings as an explanation for the concern of contemporary researchers that Islamic banks are more risky than conventional banks. Originality/value The originality of this study is that it extends the scope of risk management in Islamic banks from individual contract-based to an integrated whole, identifying a unique transmission path of how risks affect portfolio diversification in Islamic banks