Embedding Value-Based Principles in the Culture of Islamic Banks to Enhance Their Sustainability, Resilience, and Social Impact

Value-based banks strive to build a self-sustaining banking model with inclusive and transparent governance that is sustainable and resilient to external disturbances. Initiatives for value-based intermediation in Islamic finance started in Malaysia. The growth in VBIBs is accompanied by claims about its relative resilience to crisis and efficiency compared to VBBs and conventional banks. However, little empirical evidence is available to support such claims. This study aims to analyze the resilience and efficiency of VBIBs compared to the VBBs and GSIBs. It highlights the role of value-based strategy in developing a sound and resilient Islamic banking system to overcome future crises and further strengthen the impacts of Islamic banks. The study used quantitative and content analysis research methods, with data collected from the annual reports of 10 VBIBs from 2017 to 2020. The empirical results show that VBIBs have better risk-adjusted capital levels and asset quality, enabling them to be more resilient during crises. They provide more satisfactory returns compared to the VBBs and GSIBs. However, VBBs have a better asset structure and growth rate, which contributes to the real economy. The overall findings suggest that adopting value-based strategies in Islamic banking improve banks’ sustainability, resilience, and social impacts by concentrating resources on value-based activities that provide economic resiliency and enhance inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The study fills gaps in the current Islamic finance literature concerning empirical studies on value-based Islamic banking. It also helps practitioners to understand the relative efficiency, resilience, and social impact of VBIBs.

Measuring Spatial Distribution in the Banking System in Hungary

Over the past decade, due in part to the global economic crisis, a significant part of the bank branches have been closed in the European banking system, but in Hungary this proportion has been significantly higher than the European average. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore what aspects of commercial banks are taken into account when deciding where to be present within bank branches. This will also reveal the spatial dimension of public access to financial services. The present study seeks to answer the question of which socio-economic factors and in what form they affect the spatial structure of bank branches. The settlement-level examination can also provide additional indication of which settlements may be affected by further bank branch closures. Linear regression based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) parameter estimation was used to explore the factors influencing the location of bank branches. In addition, the possible clustering of bank branches was observed, i.e., whether spatial autocorrelation was present at certain stages of the analysis. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was also estimated in the present study. Based on the results of the research, the resident population, the proportion of enterprises per capita, the average income, the number of neighbouring bank branches and the type of settlement all proved to be significant factors that may encourage decision-makers to establish a bank branch.

Non-Performing Loans and Macroeconomics Factors: The Italian Case

The purpose of this work is to investigate the influence of macroeconomics determinants on non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Italian banking system over the period 2008Q3–2020Q4. We mainly contribute to the literature by being the first empirical article to study this relationship in the Italian context in the recent period, thus providing fresh evidence on the macroeconomic impact on NPLs, i.e., on the credit risk of Italian banks. By employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration model, we are able to investigate the short and long-run effects of macroeconomic factors on NPLs. The empirical findings show that gross domestic product and public debt have a negative impact on NPLs. On the other hand, we find that the unemployment rate and domestic credit positively influence impaired loans. Finally, we find evidence of the “gamble for resurrection” approach, i.e., Italian banks tend to support “zombie firms”.

Dynamics of Information Acquisition: Does Investment in Information Technology Matter?

The purpose of the study is to develop a theoretical model to ascertain if the IT investment in the banking sector is capable of generating a new equilibrium with increased efficiency. The empirical strategy is to seek an indirect test for Jordanian banking sector by looking at the time profile of banking profits as a temporal function of IT investment. The study enquires if the banking sector, as an iterative process of credit allocation and information acquisition through IT investment, lead to a stable equilibrium? Does IT investment ensure stable market shares for Jordanian banks in the long run? The study finds that investment in IT has led the banking system in Jordan away from an efficient equilibrium. We also find that the banks in Jordan directly interact with each other, although they may have collusive arrangements with some of their rivals, this means the banking market is not fragmented.

Anti–crisis Mechanisms of Qatar: Economic Diversification, Digitalization, Transformation

The Qatar National Vision 2030 program is based on two principles — modernization and preservation of traditions. Blockade of the country in 2017–2020 and the coronavirus pandemic became a serious test for the economy of Qatar, but the government and residents of the country do not consider themselves defeated by these circumstances, but on the contrary, these circumstances helped the country’s economy to survive the above crises. In 2019, the International Monetary Fund said that Qatar’s economy was resilient in the face of the blockade and shocks caused, including by the fall in hydrocarbon prices in 2014–2016. The events of the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic have posed another challenge to the financial and banking system of Qatar. Thanks to the measures of the country’s government aimed at ensuring business continuity, maintaining liquidity and providing support to the sectors of the economy affected by the pandemic, it was possible to mitigate the impact of this shock, support cash flows, and achieve financial and banking stability in the country. However, according to fund analysts, COVID–19 and a sharp drop in hydrocarbon revenues will lead to a reduction in real GDP growth by 2% in 2020. At the same time, future profits from hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022, continued expansion of capacities in production of liquefied gas and competent fiscal and monetary policy will contribute to economic growth in the country in the medium term.

Russia’s banking sector during the pandemic

Quarantine and self-isolation have become a new challenge for the Russian economy, changed many areas of our life, revealed new weaknesses in the banking system and monetary regulation of the economy, and also become a good test for the post-crisis financial system. In this article using a systematic approach to the study of information, analytical and graphical methods the dynamics of the Russian banking sector during the development of the coronavirus pandemic and the specifics of recovery from the crisis have been investigated. The innovations and improvements brought about by the pandemic have been studied. The Central Bank of Russia’s monetary policy instruments used to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the real economy in general and on the banking sector in particular have been reviewed. The features of anti-crisis measures taken by the monetary authorities in our country have been revealed.

MACROPRUDENTIAL SUPERVISION AND AGENTS’ INFORMATION: WHAT STRESS TESTS REALLY TELL THE MARKETS

Central bank’s macroprudential supervisory activities have to fulfill three distinct tasks: (i) assessing the banking system’s vulnerability to exogenous adverse turbulence, (ii) evaluating the risk of systemic crisis originating from idiosyncratic shocks, and (iii) measuring financial market’s sensitivity to policy stimuli. Given that macroprudential stress tests are the centerpiece of this policy approach, it is important to establish whether they are up to the task. We study how the 2011–2018 European Banking Authority stress tests affected market risk perception and show that they provided agents with valuable information on the policy stances and the vulnerabilities of the banking system, carrying out the above tasks successfully, especially the second and third tasks.

Pressure on Iran’s banks raises chances of collapse

Significance However, the signs of strain are becoming more marked. On December 15, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) issued an official warning to all financial institutions, threatening legal penalties for bank managers who try to compensate for rising inflation by offering savers higher interest rates than is legally permitted. Impacts If US sanctions are not lifted, further economic deterioration will increase pressure on the banking system. Iran’s blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force will be an ongoing burden for the banking sector. Tight credit will make it hard for consumers to get even small loans, such as those for which newlyweds used to be automatically eligible. There are no reliable data, but comprehensive restructuring of the banking system would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars.