Islamic Banking: Some Distinguishing Regulatory Considerations

Abstract

This focus of this paper is the regulation of one segment of modern Islamic finance: Islamic banking, whether conducted by stand-alone Islamic banks or “Islamic windows” within conventional interest-based banks. Consideration is given to a select group of illustrative issues that arise in connection with the regulation of Islamic banks. These issues pertain to (i) the structure of Islamic banks and the nature of the activities conducted by Islamic banks with funds provided by the customers of those banks (i.e., the funds that are considered to be ‘deposits’ in conventional banking), and (ii) Shariʿah governance, a subset of corporate governance that focuses on ensuring that Islamic banks operate and conduct their activities in accordance with the Shariʿah.

Keywords: Islamic banking, Shariah, Shariah governance, banking, corporate governance

JEL Classification: F30, G38, K23, K29, K33