This paper reviews institutions offering Islamic financial services (IIFS) corporate governance challenges and suggests options to address them. It first points out the importance of corporate governance for IIFS, where it would require a distinct treatment from conventional corporate governance and highlights three cases of distress of IIFS. It then dwells on prevailing corporate governance arrangements addressing IIFS' needs to ensure the consistency of their operations with Islamic finance principles and the protection of the financial interests of a stakeholders' category, namely depositors holding unrestricted investment accounts. It raises the issues of independence, confidentiality, competence, consistency, and disclosure that may bear on pronouncements of consistency with Islamic finance principles. It also discusses the agency problem of depositors holding unrestricted investment accounts. The paper argues for a governance framework that combines internal and external arrangements and relies significantly on transparency and disclosure of market relevant information.

Monetary Policy, Islamic Finance, and Islamic Corporate Governance: An International overview explores the interrelationships between corporate governance from the perspective of shari’ah, banking industry and monetary policy and is a must-read for students and professionals.

This book is one of few papers that highlight the importance of studying corporate governance for institutions offering Islamic financial services. The book is of value in describing governance in Islamic institutions and how there are many issues under the investigation process, especially issues related to the Shari'ah Supervisory board and its functionality. One of the objectives of this paper is to discuss, and create greater awareness of, some of the crucial issues related to corporate governance in Islamic financial institutions. A second, but in fact more important, objective is to provide, in the light of this discussion, certain essential guidelines to improve corporate governance in these institutions and thereby enable them to not only maintain their momentum of growth and international acceptance but also safeguard the interests of all stakeholders. The paper gives particular attention to the mechanisms for corporate governance, including the Board of Directors, Senior Management, shareholders, depositors, and regulatory and supervisory authorities.

Research in Corporate and Shari'ah Governance in the Muslim World: Theory and Practice aims to address a critical disciplinary gap between Islamic theory and the practice of the corporate sector in the Muslim World. Adopting a critical approach, the book sheds light on the impact of corporate governance on the economies of the Muslim world.

An in-depth and insightful study of Shari'ah governance from a theoretical and practical perspective

Islamic finance has started to grow in international finance across the globe, with some concentration in few countries. Nearly 20 percent annual growth of Islamic finance in recent years seems to point to its resilience and broad appeal, partly owing to principles that govern Islamic financial activities, including equity, participation, and ownership. In theory, Islamic finance is resilient to shocks because of its emphasis on risk sharing, limits on excessive risk taking, and strong link to real activities. Empirical evidence on the stability of Islamic banks, however, is so far mixed. While these banks face similar risks as conventional banks do, they are also exposed to idiosyncratic risks, necessitating a tailoring of current risk management practices. The macroeconomic policy implications of the rapid expansion of Islamic finance are far reaching and need careful considerations.