Professionnal and Neoinstitutional Dynamics in the Islamic Accounting Standards-Setting process

Chapter 5 : It is only recently that Islamic banks have become stakeholders in global financial markets. The first Sharia-compliant bank was established in Egypt in 1963, yet it is only in the 1970s that Islamic finance started to develop in its current form, through the creation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Today, the Islamic financial market extends far beyond just Muslim countries, even though the Persian Gulf region and Southeast Asia are now the hubs of this ever-growing economy. The Islamic market represents close to dollars 1 trillion (1,000 billion dollars) invested throughout the world (Divanna & Hancock, 2013). Islamic finance is classified as an ethical form of banking since it is based, at least in theory, on a series of principles that aim to restore the balance between the risks assumed by the capital provider and the borrowers. The introduction of the Riba, which somewhat covers the Western understanding of interest, is the fundamental principle for Islamic banks. Other rules also limit operations in these banks: profit and loss must be shared; uncertainty (Gharar) is prohibited, as are investments in business fields considered to be illicit. Consequently, the principles of operation of the Islamic financial system are markedly different from those of the traditional system. Islamic banks have a role in financial intermediation, but this intermediation is achieved differently, as all operations are dependent on an underlying asset. The bank plays a part as commercial intermediary between sellers and buyers, like in murabahah or ijarah-wal-iqtina operations. It can also this ever-growing economy. The Islamic market represents close to dollars 1 trillion (1,000 billion dollars) invested throughout the world (Divanna & Hancock, 2013). Islamic finance is classified as an ethical form of banking since it is based, at least in theory, on a series of principles that aim to restore the balance between the risks assumed by the capital provider and the borrowers. The introduction of the Riba, which somewhat covers the Western understanding of interest, is the fundamental principle for Islamic banks. Other rules also limit operations in these banks: profit and loss must be shared; uncertainty (Gharar) is prohibited, as are investments in business fields considered to be illicit. Consequently, the principles of operation of the Islamic financial system are markedly different from those of the traditional system. Islamic banks have a role in financial intermediation, but this intermediation is achieved differently, as all operations are dependent on an underlying asset. The bank plays a part as commercial intermediary between sellers and buyers, like in murabahah or ijarah-wal-iqtina operations. It can also act as a commercial partner, as in mudarabah and musharakah contracts. In this respect, the traditional approach of banking intermediation is ineffective, because in Islamic financial institutions, the asset does not comprise loans with predetermined revenue but the bank's contribution to the financing (musharakah and mudarabah) or sales with a profit margin (murabahah, ijarah, etc.). Different operating principles require specific prudential, financial or accounting standards. Various international regulation organizations deal with the standard setting of the rules of Islamic finance, such as the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) or the IDB. The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) is responsible for producing accounting standards for Islamic financial institutions (IFAS). These standards intend to take into account specific financial and moral principles applicable to Islamic banks. This study intends to verify if this really is the case. In : this book about Organizational Change and Global Standardization: Solutions to Standards and Norms Overwhelming Organizations takes an organizational change approach to the overflow of standards and norms, looking at how to deal effectively and ethically with four kinds of standards and norms businesses face when they go global: (1) accounting & finance (2) international & world trade,(3) social and (4) safety & quality & environment. It is part of a larger problem faced by not only business, but every sort of organization - how to live with the epidemic of standards and norms, often in conflict, many just unnecessary, and a few that are quite helpful and important. There are good reasons to have International Standards Organization (ISO), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO), North Atlantic Treaty Association (NAFTA), International accounting Standards Boards (IASB), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)), and many more standard-setting organizations issuing, auditing, proposing codes of ethics, and certifying standards and norms. However, there are important, poorly understood organizational change consequences to the contagion of standards and norms. This volume brings together a unique group of authors who are working on a pragmatic way for organizations to deal with an overflow of standards and norms that are often at heads, ambiguous, or simply created to produce more work for a burgeoning standards setting industry. The aim of Organizational Change and Global Standardization is to stimulate a critical analysis within the framework of analytical and pragmatic approach to an overwhelming bureaucratization of the managed and organized global activities.