Examines the resilience of Islamic banking during the global financial crisis and lessons for risk management. Do Islamic financial institutions perform better than their conventional counterparts during periods of financial stress? To what extent do systems for managing risk have to be adapted for Islamic financial institutions, given the unique characteristics of their assets and liabilities and the need for shari'ah compliance? These issues have come to prominence since the global financial crisis of 2007-8 and the subsequent recession, and are addressed in this book. The challenges for Islamic financial institutions are explored in an international post Basel II system where banks are required to have more capital and liquidity. Governance issues are also examined, given their influence on client and investor perceptions and their ultimate implications for institutional stability and sustainability.Offers an in-depth assessment of how Islamic banks weathered the financial crisis and what lessons can be learnt. Asks whether Islamic banks are inherently more stable than conventional banks during periods of economic stress. Examines how Islamic banks manage risk, focusing on liquidity risk and the use of forward contracts to mitigate currency risk. Appraises the work of internal shari'ah audit units and the use of shari'ah reports to reduce non-compliance risks. Features case studies from the Gulf, Malaysia, the UK, Pakistan, Turkey and GCC countries.

This paper examines the performance of Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) during the recent global crisis by looking at the impact of the crisis on profitability, credit and asset growth, and external ratings in a group of countries where the two types of banks have significant market share. Our analysis suggests that IBs have been affected differently than CBs. Factors related to IBs‘ business model helped limit the adverse impact on profitability in 2008, while weaknesses in risk management practices in some IBs led to a larger decline in profitability in 2009 compared to CBs. IBs‘ credit and asset growth performed better than did that of CBs in 2008-09, contributing to financial and economic stability. External rating agencies‘ re-assessment of IBs‘ risk was generally more favorable.

Islamic banking has seen rapid growth during the last two decades. This is a result of the liberalization of financial regulation, the globalization of financial markets, technological changes, product innovation, the birth of several new Islamic States, and a growing Islamic presence in the West, among other factors. New innovations have allowed economists and religious scholars to bring new products to almost all areas of banking and insurance, products which would previously have been extremely controversial. This book provides a better understanding of the Muslim community around the world of Islamic economics and its importance, especially in these days of financial crisis. The book will also serve as a reference manual for teaching the theory and practice of Islamic banking and Islamic financial innovations around the world. Islamic finance courses at universities are highly important since Islamic financial innovations remain very limited, and additional efforts have to be made in this area.

Though it remains a niche market, Islamic banking is the fastest growing banking and financial sector in the world. In 2012, its total market value surpassed one trillion dollars, and the banking system is highly prevalent in some of the world's fastest growing emerging economies like Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Many argue that its alternate model of finance proved uniquely suited to weather financial crises and the recessions that subsequently follow as the recent global financial crisis and the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 has shown. Islamic Banking: Steady in Shaky Times? examines if there is empirical support for the assertion that Islamic banks are more stable than conventional institutions. This provocative book is authored and researched by Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi. He has a PhD in monetary and international economics from George Mason University and nearly thirty years of experience working for both Wall Street and the World Bank, where he was a treasury operations official in the assets & liability management unit of the Bank's $115 billion balance sheet portfolio. He currently works as a financial and economic consultant in the Washington, D.C. area. His book critically assesses the advantages and challenges facing Islamic finance. It analyzes the origins and evolution of Islamic finance and shows the role that major schools of Islamic thought play in deciding whether a particular transaction or financial instrument complies with Islamic law. The book delves into case studies in the Middle East and the island nations of Southeast Asia. As Abdi shows however, there are vital signs that Islamic banking is quickly improving its performance. At its core, the book is concerned with the stability and performance of financial institutions whether they are Islamic or Western. The recent global financial crisis had its roots in the weak regulation and reckless speculation of financial institutions in developed Western countries. The text also address the costly consequences for taxpayers when governments have to bail out banks who do not want to mend their ways of leveraging large amounts of debt on risky financial products. As regulating the banking sector to stave off financial crisis has become a hotly contested issue in the United States and the Eurozone countries, this book looks at what lessons conventional financial institutions can draw from the underlying principles of Islamic finance. His book gets to the heart of what makes Islamic banks different from their conventional or Western counterparts and in what regards the institutions share the same values. The book will prove of interest to investors who want to learn more about emerging markets in the Muslim world where many large financial institutions and corporations use the principles of Islamic finance. Intended for academics and professionals, the book will also be of interest to the educated middle classes in North Africa and Middle East, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where Islamic banking and financial services are rapidly growing in dominance.

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.

Recent economic crises have made the centrality of debt, and the instability it creates, increasingly apparent. This realization has led to cries for change—yet there is little popular awareness of possible alternatives. Beyond Debt describes efforts to create a transnational economy free of debt. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Malaysia, Daromir Rudnyckyj illustrates how the state, led by the central bank, seeks to make the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur “the New York of the Muslim world”—the central node of global financial activity conducted in accordance with Islam. Rudnyckyj shows how Islamic financial experts have undertaken ambitious experiments to create more stable economies and stronger social solidarities by facilitating risk- and profit-sharing, enhanced entrepreneurial skills, and more collaborative economic action. Building on scholarship that reveals the impact of financial devices on human activity, he illustrates how Islamic finance is deployed to fashion subjects who are at once more pious Muslims and more ambitious entrepreneurs. In so doing, Rudnyckyj shows how experts seek to create a new “geoeconomics”—a global Islamic alternative to the conventional financial network centered on New York, London, and Tokyo. A groundbreaking analysis of a timely subject, Beyond Debt tells the captivating story of efforts to re-center international finance in an emergent Islamic global city and, ultimately, to challenge the very foundations of conventional finance.

A second edition of Islamic Finance in the Global Economy, substantially revised and updated to take into account the recent developments in the field.

This paper investigates the determinants of the pattern of Islamic bank diffusion around the world using country-level data for 1992 - 2006. The analysis illustrates that income per capita, share of Muslims in the population and status as an oil producer are linked to the development of Islamic banking, as are economic integration with Middle Eastern countries and proximity to Islamic financial centers. Interest rates have a negative impact on Islamic banking, reflecting the implicit benchmark for Islamic banks. The quality of institutions does not matter, probably because the often higher hurdle set by Shariah law trumps the quality of local institutions in most countries. The 9/11 attacks were not important to the diffusion of Islamic banking; but they coincided with rising oil prices, which are a significant factor in the diffusion of Islamic banking. Islamic banks also appear to be complements to, rather than substitutes for, conventional banks.

The growing presence of Islamic banking needs to be accompanied by the development of effective regulation and supervision. This paper examines the results of the survey conducted by the International Monetary Fund to document international experiences and country practices related to legal and prudential frameworks governing Islamic banking activities. Although a number of countries have made considerable progress in creating legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks that accommodate Islamic banking, there are substantial differences. This paper also identifies a number of challenges faced by regulatory and supervisory agencies regarding Islamic banking.

"This book provides ideas to its readers about the approaches pertaining to Islamic social finance tools such as "zakat, sadaqah, waqf, Qardh al-hasan, green Sukuk, Financial literacy, kafala and Takaful", practical implementations, challenges and issues", change management and other related aspects required for community development and poverty alleviation"--