Inside-Out: Perception of Key Finance Professionals about Theory and Practice of Islamic Banking

Islamic banking has shown tremendous growth in the first decade of 21st century. By the end of 2008, global volume of assets under Islamic banking reached US$951 billion. In Pakistan, Islamic banking has displayed a tremendous annual average growth of 76% during the last seven years and accounts for 6% of the market share (SBP-2010). However, keeping in view the religious ideologies of the significant majority of Pakistanis, Islamic banking industry has expanded at less than its expected potential. This study documents the perception of key players in finance industry about Islamic banking, to highlight the underlying issues directly responsible for slower-than-potential-expansion of this industry. Findings suggest, although theoretically, that the industry perceives Islamic banking correctly, however professionals do not feel content with its practice

Discontinuity in Auditing: A Study in Foucauldian Perspective

Purpose: This study aims to determine the form of discontinuity in auditing, related to the provision of an opinion on a financial report.   Theoretical framework: Foucaldian perspective is used to examine the disclosure of the form of discontinuity as it is preconceived as an effort to uncover the 'other' truth that surrounds a subject, object and event in the auditing process. Meanwhile, the audit opinion is 'proxied' as a result of construction that has gone through a process of interaction between the auditor and the auditee in a social arena.   Design/methodology/approach: This is done through critical reading of discursive events when the audit of the regional government financial statements is carried out by the auditors of the Supreme Audit Agency.   Findings: The results showed that disclosure of discontinuity in auditing is possible. Foucault's concept of power/knowledge is able to touch the workings of the profession in producing a discontinuity. The tendency of asymmetry of knowledge of auditor vis a vis auditee, especially in the public sector – as exemplified by Foucault; doctors and their patients - can be a way to focus on forms of discontinuity in producing audit opinions on local government financial statements.   Research, Practical & Social implications: A discursive event confronts the auditor vis a vis auditee when an audited local government financial report opinion is produced. The methodology used in this reading is Foucault's philosophy through his conception of discontinuity.   Originality/value: The findings proposed the originality in which Foucaldian perspective can be useful to explore the link between local government financial report and discursive events

Risk and Returns of Shar??ah Compliant Stocks on the Karachi Stock Exchange: A CAPM and SCAPM Approach

This study documents the asset pricing mechanism of Shar??ah compliant securities listed on the the Karachi Stock Exchange. We select the CAPM market model to test for the impact in variations of stock returns on a sample of Shar??ah-compliant companies on ten years monthly data (2001-10). We first test the basic CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and its modified form known as the Shar??ah-compliant asset pricing model (SCAPM). We also analyse return differences due to size (market capitalization), book to market (B/M) value, price-earning ratio (PER), and cash-flow yield (CFY). Our results find a strong impact of the market index on stock returns (adj-R2 70%) and confirm the anomalies of size, B/M, CFY, and PER, while SCAPM is slightly better in explaining variations in cross-sectional stock returns

Impact of Real Sector Variables on Shari’a Compliant Stock Returns

Shari’a compliant stocks are a recent development under Islamic finance, whereby stocks are screened through Shari’a compliance filters. This study is conducted to understand and document the important Real Sector macroeconomic factors contributing in determining stock prices of Shari’a compliant companies in Pakistan. Our sample includes all 97 non-financial companies screened by Al-Meezan Investment Management Ltd, based on financial results of 2009. We have included Six Macroeconomic variables in addition to market index in our study for ten years period (2001-10). Results identified Zero real sector variable in pricing, however, with the inclusion of market index in analysis, the single important variable in pricing of Shari’a compliant securities is market Beta. Evidence favors CAPM for pricing of securities in local market as market index captures the risk of macroeconomic variables

PENGARUH PERMAINAN TRADISIONAL TERHADAP PERILAKU SOSIAL SISWA DI SMP NEGERI 2 PALASAH KABUPATEN MAJALENGKA : Studi Eksperimen Terhadap Siswa Kelas VII SMP Negeri 2 Palasah

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh perilaku sosial siswa yang belum bisa menyesuaikan diri dengan lingkungannya, memilih-milih teman dan kurangnya bersosialisasi dengan teman lainnya di sekolah terutama terlihat jelas pada saat pembelajaran pendidikan jasmani. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh permainan tradisional terhadap prilaku sosial siswa. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode penelitian eksperimen pada siswa kelas VII di SMPN 2 Palasah dengan desain penelitian menggunakan pretest-posstest one group design. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa-siswi SMPN 2 palasah, dengan sampel siswa-siswi kelas VII A sebanyak 20 siswa. Teknik pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah dengan purposive. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah angket atau kuisioner dan dokumentasi penelitian. Sebelum mengetahui hasil dari penelitiannya diuji angket terlebih dahulu, butir pernyataan yang dibuat sebanyak 60, kemudian setelah diuji angket terdapat pernyataan yang tidak valid sehingga pernyataan yang valid sebanyak 33 butir. Hasil dari penelitian ini didapat jumlah rata-rata pretest 130.20 dan posstest 137,45 serta simpangan baku pretest 5,376 dan posstest 5,094. Hasil uji normalitas pretest didapat Lo 0,83 Lt 0,190 dan posstest didapat Lo 0,184 Lt 0,190 dengan kesimpulan normal karena Lo t-table 1,729 maka h1 diterima artinya terdapat pengaruh dari permainan tradisional terhadap perilaku sosial siswa. Kesimpulannya terdapat pengaruh dari permainan tradisional terhadap perilaku sosial siswa.------ This research is motivated by the social behavior of students who have not been able to adjust to their environment, choosing friends and the lack of socializing with other friends in school is especially evident at the time of physical education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of traditional games on social behavior of students. The research method used is experimental research method on the students of class VII in SMPN 2 Palasah with research design using pretest-posstest one group design. The population in this study were students of SMPN 2 palasah, with a sample of students of class VII A of 20 students. The sampling technique in this research is purposive. The instruments used are questionnaires or questionnaires and research documentation. Before knowing the results of his research tested the first questionnaire, the grain statement made 60, then after tested the questionnaire there is an invalid statement so that a valid statement of 33 items. The results of this study obtained the average number of pretest 130.20 and posstest 137.45 and deviation of raw pretest 5,376 and posstest 5,094. Pretest normality test results obtained Lo 0.83 Lt 0.190 and posstest obtained Lo 0.184 Lt 0.190 with a normal conclusion because Lo t-table 1,729 h1 is accepted meaning that there is influence from traditional game to social behavior of student. In conclusion there is an influence of traditional games on students' social behavior

An Evaluation of Takaful Insurance: Case of Pakistan

Islamic finance being a relatively new business segment, however, have shown promising results so far. In addition to banking services, Islamic finance has started penetrating in other sectors including capital markets and insurance. This study aims to evaluate the newly emerging Takaful sector in Pakistani market. The study covers an overview of insurance sector including Takaful; comparative financial analysis of Takaful industry with conventional insurance; an insight into the accounting and legal framework for Takaful; a customer survey to document the perception about Takaful business; and an insight and documentation of challenges to Takaful operations. Findings suggest Takaful business has low market share, although growing at a faster pace. The past financial performance appears to be poor, though with singnificant potential depicted by healthy growth. A reasonably good regulatory framework is also in place. Overall, market sentiments are very positive about Takaful insurance in Pakistan