It is widely accepted that, for some industries, competition across countries is" economically important and that this competition is strongly affected by exchange rate changes." This paper explores the validity of this view using weekly stock return data on 320 industry pairs" in six countries from 1975 to 1997. It is found that common shocks to industries across countries" are more important than competitive shocks. Weekly exchange rate shocks explain almost" nothing of the relative performance of industries. Using returns measured over longer horizons the importance of exchange rate shocks increases slightly and the importance of common shocks" to industries increases more substantially. Both industry and exchange rate shocks are more" important for industries that produce goods traded internationally, but the importance of these" shocks is economically small for these industries as well.

International Competition and Exchange Rate Shocks: A Cross-Country Industry Analysis of Stock Returns

Islamic Financial Services

An introduction to Islamic finance

Journal of Marriage and the Family

This technical note provides a thorough overview of real-estate investment trusts (REITs). Created to promote and facilitate widespread public ownership of commercial real estate, REITs are companies that own real-estate properties or mortgages and that operate within certain guidelines, allowing them to qualify for REIT status. Focusing primarily on equity REITs, the note covers a broad range of issues, including valuation and its many drivers, and also examines the advantages of REIT ownership versus property ownership. The note concludes with a discussion of the future of REITs.

Real-Estate Investment Trusts

Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) is one of the most important governance mechanisms of an Islamic Financial Institution (IFI) to ensure compliance with Shariah. This paper tries to elaborate the importance of SSB to the establishment of an IFI. It will discuss the roles and responsibilities of an SSB as well as the process of how an SSB reviews the performance of a given IFI. Moreover, it will discuss how the actual Shariah reviews are undertaken in Malaysian IFIs. In order to limit the scope of the subject, this paper will focus only on Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB) and Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad (BMMB). The findings resulted from the research on both banks mentioned above will assess the effectiveness of the Shariah reviews on both banks. This paper will evaluate whether the Shariah reviews practiced at the present moment are sufficient to justify the Shariah audit report. In addition, this paper will also examine if there is any expectation gaps between the standards issued by the AAOIFI and the actual Shariah review practice in those Islamic banks.

The Practice of Shariah Review as Undertaken by Islamic Banking Sector in Malaysia

Macro level economic and social indicators indicate disengagements between objective measurements and subjective consumer perceptions of the Malaysian economy. Objective measures show positive signals while subjective consumer perceptions depict pessimistic feelings about the economy. To provide more insights on this disparity, data is collected from 1867 Malaysian households to assess their subjective financial well-being (SFWB). In this vein, this study first examines the level of SFWB, financial stress, financial behaviour, financial knowledge, and locus of control (LOC) among Malaysians across three household income groups. Second, the study examines the association between financial stress, financial behaviour, financial knowledge, and LOC, with SFWB. For both objectives, the sample is split into three household income groups (low, middle and high income households, or the B40, M40 and T20, respectively) to analyse the differences. The results show that SFWB is at an average level of 5.2 out of 10 for the overall sample, with significant differences observed between the B40, M40 and T20 groups with SFWB scores of 4.3, 5.1 and 6.2 respectively. Financial behaviour and LOC have a significant positive relationship with SFWB, while financial stress and financial knowledge have a significant negative relationship with SFWB across all households. However, among the B40 group, financial knowledge had no significant relationship with SFWB. Lastly, the findings are discussed and policy recommendations for policymakers are provided.

Determinants of Subjective Financial Well-Being Across Three Different Household Income Groups in Malaysia

There is a high demand and need for developing alternatives tothe traditional debt market, which are acceptable to Islamic lawas bonds play a major role in the economy in raising capital. Themain objective of this paper is to examine the contemporaryaccounting regulatory issues on investment in Islamic bonds orSukuk in Malaysia. Sukuk can be based on various Islamiccontracts, namely Mudarabah, Murabahah, Musharakah, andIjarah. Due to the growth in the Islamic financial market, namelythe Islamic bonds, as well as the growing interest in Islamic bankingand insurance, the need for specific accounting requirements thatcan accommodate these contracts is imperative. This paper is basedon the rationale that for the Islamic financial market to prosper, itrequires well regulated Islamic financial instruments, as well asappropriate accounting standards and guidelines in recordingthese instruments. Therefore, a well regulated Islamic financialmarket requires sound accounting and reporting standards forIslamic financial instruments that meet the requirements of Shariâ€˜ahas well as being practical. In addition, this paper also highlightsissues raised concerning the accounting practices in Islamic bondsinvestments.

Malaysian sukuk: issues in accounting standard

The issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been of growing concern among business communities in recent years. Various corporate leaders maintain that business is considered to contribute fully to the society if it is efficient, profitable and socially responsible. Islam is considered as ad-din (a way of life), thus, providing comprehensive guidelines in every aspect of the believers’ life. It is the aim of this paper to propose an Islamic model of corporate social responsibility based on human relationships with God (hablun min’Allah); with other fellow human beings (hablun min’an-nas) and with the environment. The main objective of CSR in Islam is to promote social justice as well as for the attainment of well-being.

https://ajap.um.edu.my/article/download/3608/1574

Corporate Social Responsibility: An Islamic Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the perception of Islamic bank employees in Malaysia and selected Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, on various issues related to Islamic business ethics and the practices of the Islamic banks at which they work.,The required data to determine Islamic bank employees’ ethical perceptions is sourced from 144 completed survey questionnaires and interviews with 12 Islamic bank senior executives. Islamic model of normative business ethics is used to measure the relationship between attitudes and behaviours of employees and the ethical practices of Islamic banks.,Results show that the Islamic bank personnel working in Malaysia and the GCC perceived that their banks conform to Islamic ethical norms in business. These banks were seen to be concerned with their impact on society, and ethics prevailed over profit-maximisation. The findings also suggest that despite being less regulated compared to Malaysia, Islamic bank personnel in GCC had a better impression of the ethical standard practised in their institutions compared to the feedback given by their Malaysian counterparts. Additionally, this research also proves that, in general, there is a positive correlation between attitudes and behaviours of employees and the ethical practices of Islamic banks.,The main limitation of the study is that the respondents were not selected randomly but rather through a convenient sampling of personal contacts. Despite the inherent limitation of the sampling method because of the constraints of time and resources, the large number of respondents from 12 different banks are representative of the Islamic bank employees in Malaysia and the GCC.,The findings may serve as a useful input for Islamic financial institutions in improving their practices to conform with Islamic ethical norms.,The topic of Islamic business ethics and the practices of Islamic banks have not been fully understood by its stakeholders. This paper aims to give insights on how far Islamic bank business practices in Muslim majority societies fit with the prescribed business framework in Islam and its contributing value for both the organization and employees.

Mohd Edil Abd Sukor

Papers

The Practice of Shariah Review as Undertaken by Islamic Banking Sector in Malaysia

Determinants of Subjective Financial Well-Being Across Three Different Household Income Groups in Malaysia

Malaysian sukuk: issues in accounting standard

Corporate Social Responsibility: An Islamic Perspective

Islamic business ethics and practices of Islamic banks: Perceptions of Islamic bank employees in Gulf cooperation countries and Malaysia