Search Results (16)

Green banking has become a concept of interest, particularly with the focus on the role played by banks in pursuing Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action. This study is distinguished from previous ones in that it aimed at investigating the multi-regional view on green banking practices/activities around the world with a special emphasis on the opportunities and challenges that various banks encounter in different geographical areas. A systematic review approach was adopted based on the Web of Science and Scopus databases, in which 159 articles were retrieved and 62 articles synthesized through a thematic analysis. The research process was demonstrated through a Prisma 2020 flowchart. Key multiregional green banking activities identified include digital banking, green loan or sukuk products for Islam-dominated economies, green services and investments, and financing of green infrastructure. In essence, the implementation of green banking is either directly through active green lending and greening their operations or indirectly through enhancing conditions. The key challenges identified include regulatory handles, social economic and culture hinderances, transition risk and the high cost of compliance, greenwashing concerns, and weak investor confidence. The most prevalent opportunities included green banking as a strategic competitive advantage, emerging market niche, and as a strategy for long-term climate risk management. Full article

This study comparatively examines the determinants of yield spreads for Sukuk and conventional bonds, with a particular focus on the role of firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Using a dataset comprising 744 bond-year observations from issuers in countries with prominent dual financial systems—namely, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia—over the period 2008 to 2022, this analysis identifies distinct mechanisms that influence yield spreads in these asset classes. For robustness, the sample excludes financial institutions to prevent industry-weight distortion and to account for their distinct risk–return profiles, which require differentiated valuation approaches for conventional bonds and Sukuk. Drawing primarily on decoupling, information asymmetry, and legitimacy theories, our empirical results reveal that robust ESG performance is significantly associated with lower yield spreads for both Sukuk and conventional bonds. Moreover, the study explores the moderating effect of investment horizons on the ESG–yield spreads relationship, uncovering evidence of differentiated investor behavior in relation to yield curve positioning. These findings, robust across various regression specifications, underscores the pivotal role of ESG factors as firm-level drivers of financing costs, offering new insights for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the sustainable finance domain. Full article

The “Dana Gas” case is considered one of the pivotal cases in the development of the Islamic financial industry. The case raised concerns about the limits of legal certainty, particularly the judiciary’s right to exercise “ijtihad” (juristic interpretation). This study highlights the extent to which Islamic financial institutions adhere to their contractual obligations in good faith based on Shariah compliance. It also outlines how the judiciary preserves its inherent right to exercise due diligence in relation to protecting the public economic order and applying its authority in evaluating the practical application of Islamic finance contracts and instruments. Based on the dialectical approach, this article analyzes the case by presenting the background of the dispute and its legal dimensions, emphasizing the necessity of achieving legal certainty in the Islamic financial industry. This study also advocates for applying judicial jurisprudence in resolving disputes related to sukuk. Finally, it unfolds the legal lessons learned from this case. This study concludes that more effort should be made to localize judicial jurisdiction in resolving disputes related to sukuk, regulating the process of selecting the applicable law, and to develop the legal infrastructure in systems participating in Islamic finance. Accordingly, this study highlights the significant role that Shariah standards could play in this field in the future. Full article

This study developed and evaluated machine learning models (MLMs) for predicting the drivers of green sukuk investment interest (GSII) in Nigeria, adopting the planks of hypothesised determinants adapted from variants of the planned behavioural model and behavioural finance theory. Of the seven models leveraged in the prediction, random forest, which had the highest level of accuracy (82.35% for testing and 90.37% for training datasets), with a good R² value (0.774), afforded the optimal choice for prediction. The random forest model ultimately classified 10 of the hypothesised predictors of GSII, which underpinned constructs such as risk, perceived behavioural control, information availability, and growth, as highly important; 21, which were inclusive of all of the hypothesised constructs in measurement, as moderately important; and the remaining 15 as low in importance. The feature importance determined by the random forest model afforded an indicator-specific value, which can help green sukuk (GS) issuers to prioritise the most important drivers of investment interest, suggest important contexts for ethical investment policy enhancement, and inform insights about optimal resource allocation and pragmatic recommendations for stakeholders with respect to the funding of climate change mitigation projects in Nigeria. Full article

This study investigates the financial interconnections among Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), sukuk (Islamic bonds), and oil in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. The study sample comprises S&P GCC Composite Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Shariah, the S&P GCC Bond and Sukuk Index, and the OPEC crude oil basket on a daily basis. The duration of coverage spans from 2014 until the beginning of 2024. The TVP-VAR methodology is utilized to examine the interrelationship among the assets. The results indicate that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and oil are sources of volatility transmission, whereas sukuk is a recipient of volatility within the network. Examining the net pairwise directional linkages of two assets, namely REITs and oil markets, reveals that they transfer their volatility to the sukuk market. Moreover, a reciprocal relationship exists between REITs and oil regarding volatility spillover. It means that REITs act as transmitters to the oil markets during specific periods, while the influence is reversed at other times. This study implies that portfolio managers and investors can discern the volatility patterns of assets in order to enhance their risk-management techniques. For policymakers, comprehending the interdependence of certain asset classes provides valuable knowledge for formulating regulations that might stabilize the financial system and foster economic growth. From a research and academic perspective, this study enhances understanding of the interconnections between different financial asset classes and pricing dynamics in financial markets. Full article

Islamic finance (IF) holds significant potential for economic development and the enhancement of financial inclusion in Uzbekistan. Sukuk, as a key Islamic capital market instrument and Shari’ah-compliant investment alternative, plays an important role in this context. However, the demand for sukuk and its determinants are not well understood by policymakers and industry practitioners in Uzbekistan. This study aims to address this research gap by utilizing an ordinal logit model on primary data collected through a survey of 196 individuals from diverse demographic and professional backgrounds, with varying levels of IF and capital market knowledge and experience. The regression results indicate that factors such as prior investment experience, knowledge of sukuk, and a strong inclination toward Shari’ah-compliant investments positively influence an individual’s intent to buy sukuk. Conversely, we found that residents of Tashkent (the capital city) are less likely to invest in sukuk compared to residents of other regions in Uzbekistan or those residing abroad. Based on this study’s findings, several essential policy and practical recommendations are provided to relevant stakeholders. Full article

Policymakers, governments, and Islamic financial institutions are increasingly focusing on sustainable development, leading to an in-depth examination of current sustainable finance practices, projects, and product portfolios. This study examines the role of Islamic sustainable finance (ISF) in promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to avert financial risk in the management of Islamic Finance Products (ISFP). Through qualitative analysis, the study conducts a critical literature review (CLR) that incorporates conceptual, theoretical, and empirical perspectives on ISF and SDGs and addresses two specific research questions. Our study examines over 48 journals from 2010 to 2024 and provides insights into how ISF advances the SDGs across all environmental, social, and economic dimensions. It also highlights that ISF promotes green entrepreneurship by investing in sustainable projects, supporting SMEs, and offering alternative financing. ISF also promotes financial stability, justice, and growth and is consistent with the principles of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Key ISF mechanisms that promote the SDGs include Islamic Green Sukuk, Socially Responsible Investment Funds, Islamic Microfinance, and Islamic Impact Investing. Integrating Islamic ethical principles into financial activities is crucial for inclusive and sustainable economic development. These qualitative insights are critical for policymakers, Islamic financial institutions, Halal entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and investors to understand the potential of Islamic social finance (ISF) to support sustainable practices, projects, and portfolios. Furthermore, the ISFs alignment with Maqasid al-Shari’ah highlights its importance in promoting sustainable development while mitigating financial risk in ISFPs management. The study offers robust contributions to the existing literature to provide comprehensive insights into how ISF can be effectively used to promote SDGs. Full article

There is a growing number of published peer-reviewed articles, government reports and investigations from civil societies reporting the poor performance of Public Private Partnerships (PPP)-provided utilities services. The purpose of this desk study is to explore the unreported connection between the source of financing for Public Private Partnerships (PPP) projects in the energy sector and the growing energy poverty across the globe. Energy poverty has become a growing threat to households in both developing and developed countries. Studies have shown that energy poverty results in poor health outcomes, discomfort, and poor economic and intellectual development. The causes of energy poverty have been attributed to rising energy prices, stagnated household incomes and poorly energy-efficient buildings. In response, there are growing calls in many countries for the re-nationalisation of energy companies. However, there is a dearth of studies exploring the connection between conventional interest-based debt finance used in financing PPPs which require tariffs to be designed to achieve cost recovery and overcome the growing energy poverty. Our intention is to show that beyond the private vs. public provision debate, there exists an unexplored third approach that mainstream experts seem to ignore or are oblivious about. We argue that the highly leveraged interest-based financing model currently used by PPP sponsors exacerbates energy poverty because of interest costs built into consumer tariffs. We argue that adopting orthodox non-interest equity-based sukuks as a medium of financing for energy PPPs will lead to a reduction in energy tariffs, and will enhance affordability, sustainability, value-for-money and reduce energy poverty. The emphasis on orthodoxy is derived from the fact that most of the current sukuks in the market violate the core concept of Islamic finance by promising a fixed return to investors. Full article

This study aims to investigate the relationship between creditor protection and the debt maturity structure of corporations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The GCC countries enjoy large GDPs, growing capital markets, especially the Islamic bonds (Sukuk) market, and negligible tax environments. Nonetheless, the GCC countries’ financial systems are still dominated by banks, and their private investments are held by concentrated investors. The study utilizes firm-level financial data and country-level institutional data obtained from the World Bank Governance Indicators and Doing Business databases and applies the two-stage least square estimator to test its hypotheses. The findings indicate that stronger regulatory effectiveness is associated with long debt maturities, while better creditor protection is associated with short debt maturities. The latter finding suggests that managers and owners have incentives to utilize short-term debt in economies characterized by stronger liquidation and insolvency rules to avoid the loss of control in the case of a firm default. This finding has policy implications in terms of the importance of considering the dual influence of institutional reforms on the supply of and demand for long-term capital. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of functional, social, emotional, religious, and knowledge values on customers’ intentions to purchase green sukuk (Islamic bonds) products. This study employs the Theory of Consumption Value (TCV) and analyzes data from a sample of 300 respondents using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The results suggest that these values significantly influence the choice to purchase the products. The study is limited to the western area of Indonesia, one of the most populated and dominated economic powers in the country, and focuses specifically on green sukuk using TCV. Nevertheless, it provides valuable insights for understanding the determinants that stimulate potential investors in purchasing green financial products in Islamic finance industry, which has emerged as an important element in the country’s economic engines. Full article

This research aims to develop a determinant variable of the Sukuk rating derived from agency and asymmetry theories. This research is essential because Sukuk or Islamic Bonds is needed in Indonesia, with 85% of its population out of 320 million people being Muslim. Many studies on the determinants of Sukuk ratings have been conducted and are still trending research. However, they are rarely observed from the perspective of agency and asymmetry theories, which are the basis for the relationship between principals and investors. The relationship produces three primary variables in the Sukuk rating determinants, namely financial disclosure quality (FDQ), accounting-based risks (ABRs), and earnings management (EM). This research used 570 panel annual reports from 2018 to 2020 and involved 190 firm-issued Sukuk. Meanwhile, the variables’ reflection used several indicators. SEM (structural equation modeling) was used for the statistical analysis with the help of PLS—primarily smart PLS version. The results exposed that FDQ, ABRs, and EM derived from the two theories are affected significantly by the determinant of the Sukuk rating. In comparison, earnings management successfully moderates the FDQ and Sukuk rating variables but fails to moderate the ABRs to the Sukuk rating. The conclusion also revealed that these relationship theories are fundamental in developing the Sukuk rating. However, the variables should be more complex for future research. With significant results, the agency and asymmetry theories proxied by three variables can explain the Sukuk rating. Accordingly, these theories are relevant as approaches in determining important factors of the Sukuk rating. Full article

Background: The anthropology of sustainability documents and interprets diverse visions of sustainable and liveable futures. Islamic scholars and financiers are now debating the distinctive contribution of Islamic finance to global sustainability. While mainstream global finance has only recently begun to pay explicit attention to social and environmental sustainability, Islamic economics has always emphasised the need to benefit society, the community, and the environment. Objectives: We ask what has been the influence of the emergence of green and social finance upon Islamic finance in Malaysia, the global centre of Islamic finance. Methods: The study is based on collaborative, co-productive ethnography and autoethnography, and textual analysis of working documents of the Securities Commission Malaysia, focusing on how environmental requirements are expressed in new financial products, known as green sukuks, or green Islamic bonds. Results and conclusions: We have found that much of the moral debate in Islamic finance has revolved around the distribution of financial risk: when investors share the risk of failure, they can participate in society rather than merely exploiting social relations, yet the emergence of ‘green’ Islamic finance appears to shift the centre of moral gravity away from risk structuring towards technical criteria of sustainability, replicating the growth-oriented anthropocentric managerialism of mainstream finance. Full article

The main focus of the study is to determine the financial uncertainty while examining the Sukuk bonds prices, Sukuk bond and global emerging market indices returns dynamics. The study, with a time period ranging from 2017 to 2020, applies the quantile regression technique. The study findings show that evidence of co-moment exists between the global emerging market index and Sukuk bond price returns, except the one. There is no impact of the financial uncertainty indicator reflected by the global volatility index (VIX) on the Sukuk index returns, and even this impact is negative for (VXEEM). The causal impact among the global emerging and Sukuk bond markets will help formulate future trading strategies in particular to Islamic bond markets. Full article

Investors are interested in knowing whether sukuk bonds and shariah stock indices in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) region are related. This study examines the connectedness between the sukuk- and shariah-compliant stock indices in the GCC financial markets. Bivariate and multivariate wavelet approaches are applied to the daily data covering the period 10 July 2008 to 15 May 2017. The empirical findings demonstrate a strong correlation between these GCC sukuk bond indices and shariah stock indices. The degree of connectedness between these sukuk and shariah stock indices varies across time and scale. A strong and positive association is observed in the short term and a negative association is evident in the long term. The same findings are observed, using the wavelet cohesion approach that also validates the existence of portfolio diversification opportunities at a short-time horizon. The multivariate cross-correlation analysis reveals that these sukuk and shariah stock markets are highly integrated across time and scale. Furthermore, the value at risk (VaR) for the sukuk bond–shariah stocks portfolio is performed to highlight the significance of the wavelet analysis. The outcomes show that portfolio stocks are variable with respect to time or scale (time diversification). Overall, analyzing the sukuk bond–shariah stock index returns in the GCC at a multiscale level makes it easier for financial agents dealing with heterogeneous trading horizons to assess the benefits of diversifications. Full article

In Italy, the dramatic reduction of government incentives has caused a decrease of investments in the renewable energy sector. For this reason, it is necessary to rethink funding techniques, extending the analysis to different cultural and financial models. In this paper, we study the incentive-dependency of an Italian case study in the wind energy sector in order to reach grid parity, comparing the obtained results with those of Islamic finance and conventional finance. In particular, we propose that Sukuk Islamic finance instruments be used for the realization of real assets in Shari’ah-compliant finance that prohibits interest rates, as in conventional financial markets, and we present the building cost thresholds necessary to achieve grid parity. Our results highlight the importance of incentives and the applicability of the use of Sukuk instruments for sustainable investments in the wind energy sector, which is crucial in the framework of current efforts against climate change as well as efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Full article