The current study aims to develop a Maqasid al-Shari’ah (objective of Islamic Law) based a new performance evaluation index for Islamic banks. In order to achieve the objective, the current study conducted twelve semi-structured interviews of academics and practitioners who specialize in Islamic banking and finance (IBF) to select the variables for the index. In order to validate the selected variables, a focus group discussion was arranged that consisted of five experts in IBF. Then, in order to prioritize the selected Maqasid variables, items and sub-items, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed. The thirty respondents included industry experts, Shari’ah scholars and academics. Lastly, an index was developed and tested on some selected Islamic banks in Malaysia and Bangladesh to rank their Maqasid based performance. The findings revealed that RHB Islamic bank ranked first among the sampled Islamic banks. Overall, Malaysian Islamic banks performed better than Bangladeshi Islamic banks. The novelty of this study lies in its contribution to the theory of Maqasid al-Shari’ah with respect to banking performance evaluation. The index is expected to assist policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders to determine whether the performance of Islamic banks is in line with Maqasid al-Shari’ah and therefore adopt necessary policy changes accordingly.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the internal (bankspecific) and external (macroeconomic and industry-specific) factors thataffect the revenue efficiency of banks. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper considers all the Scheduled Commercial Banks operating in India over a period of 22 years from 1991-92 to 2012-13. Due to the non-availability of information for certain variables the sample varies across years. The revenue efficiency of banks is calculated by employing a non-parametric approach, namely, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). To determine the factors affecting revenue efficiency, the Panel Data Tobit model, as proposed by James Tobin (1958), is used. It is applied due to the censored nature of the dependent variable, i.e., the efficiency scores, which range from 0 to 1. Research finding: The results indicate that the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Net Non-Performing Assets to Net Advances (NPANA), Operating Expenses to Total Expenses (OETE), Business per Employee (BPE), Return on Assets (ROA), Size (LNTA), and Inflation (INF) reveal a negative relationship with the revenue efficiency scores. Equity to Total Assets (ETA), Total Loans and advances to Total Deposits (TATD), Total Investments to Total Assets (TITA), Total Expenses to Total Income (TETI), Spread to Total Assets (STA), Non-Interest Income to Total Income (NIITI), Cash Deposit Ratio (CDR), Time Dummy (TD), Public Dummy (PUBD), and Log of Gross Domestic Product (LNGDP) disclose a positive relationship for the revenue efficiency model. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study is among the few that examine factors affecting the revenue efficiency of Indian Commercial Banks as limited research is available in the Indian Banking Literature. Practitioner/Policy implication: The empirical findings of this article clearly provide assistance to bank managers in understanding the factors that positively or adversely affect the revenue efficiency. It specifically recommends that managers focus on credit risk management and asset liability management. Research limitation/Implication: The present study may be extended by considering other efficiency parameters as dependent variables. Various risks

Purpose In 2011, the Malaysian cabinet approved the policy that all board of directors of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia should consist of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions by the year 2016. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the presence of women on the board and firms’ performance following the introduction of the diversity policy. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses the information of the top 200 Malaysian public listed companies for the financial year 2011–2013. The multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between the firm performance (return on assets (ROA)) as the dependent variable and the independent variables. Findings The results show that during the period under study, the proportion of women directors on board is negatively correlated with ROA. This indicates that the firm performance may not be dependent on the number of women directors on board. However, the results of the study also show that the academic backgrounds of the women board members add some value toward generating better firm performance. Research limitations/implications A small sample size of only the top 200 public listed companies was utilised. Consequently the outcome may not be generalisable to smaller public companies or private firms. Another limitation is regarding the sample period. Taking only one year before and one year after the policy’s approval may be too short of the period under study and may be too early to study the impact of the policy. Future studies could sample a longer period. Practical implications The findings encourage public listed companies to appoint women with the necessary qualities as members of the board and not to simply increase the number of women on boards. Originality/value There is a lack of work on studying women’s effectiveness on board in developing countries, whereby previous work and literature review were predominantly based upon the experience of Western economies. This study, thus, contributes to the rising literature on women board member representation based on the firm performance of the top 200 listed companies in Malaysia.

Purpose This study extensively aims to investigate the effects of different aspects of corporate governance (CG) mechanism, including board size, executive directors’ shareholdings, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) duality, a family member as the CEO and/or chairperson of the board, independent directors in remuneration committee and number of board meeting, on executive directors’ remuneration in small firms listed on Bursa Malaysia (BM). Design/methodology/approach The sample of this study consists of 173 bottom-listed companies from Bursa Malaysia in Year 2010. The Year 2010 was chosen because the disclosure of remuneration committee activities and directors’ pay structure is required under the revised Malaysia Code of Corporate Governance, 2007. Furthermore, the period selected is after the global economic crisis (2008), which may have an effect on the remuneration structure in small firms. The ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate the relationship between remuneration as dependent variable and other independent variables. Findings A finding from this study reveals that there is a significant positive relationship between executive ownership and executive remuneration, and between board size and executive remuneration. The results provide evidence that the family members manipulate power and control remuneration in small firms. This indicates that the independent directors are not truly independent to monitor and control the firm activities, including minimizing the excessive remuneration. Research limitations/implications This study examines how the corporate governance (CG) affects remuneration among 173 small firms in Malaysia based on market capitalization, for one year, 2010. Hence, the results may not be generalizable to other periods or types of the companies. This shows the possibility of the absence of some additional variables in the research model and hence a limitation to the findings of the study. Although the study is being parsimonious in the choice of relevant variables, prior literature serves the guide in the selection of the used variables. This therefore gives room for future research using the potential omitted variables. Furthermore, the study focuses on total remuneration, such as fees, salaries, bonuses and benefits in kind, which makes aggregate directors’ remuneration. However, this study did not consider the remuneration related to stock options. Finally, this study only uses secondary data; hence, it could be interesting to use other instruments to collect data like a questionnaire to add more weight to the research. This study only uses one-year data; therefore, impact of changes between years cannot be analysed. Originality/value Results of the study provide evidence that the family members manipulate power and control remuneration in small firms. They reduce the effectiveness of non-executive directors because most of them are appointed by a family member and not socially responsible to their stakeholders.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the financial sustainability of Islamic Saving Credit Corporative Society (SACCOS) and the factor(s) affecting their financial sustainability in the Tanzanian context. Design/methodology/approach: The data set used in this study comes from four SACCOS audited financial reports from the year 2010 to 2014 and from interviews with SACCOS's management. Findings: The study found that the IMFIs in Tanzania are not financially sustainable. Additionally, having responsible staff members, regular review of financial guidelines, education to members, cooperation between employees and management and staff training are found to be highly contributing factors towards SACCOS's financial sustainability. Moreover, the findings reveal that depending on the single source of income, i.e., charges on members contributed much in these SACCOS's not being financially sustainable. Research limitations/implications: Only two available registered Islamic SACCOS was used. Additionally, conventional SACCOS have been in service provision for a long time as compared to Islamic ones; hence, caution must be taken for comparison purposes. Practical implications: Based on these findings, the Islamic SACCOS needs to initiate productive projects that can enable them to have other income sources apart from charges on members. Originality/value: This study traces the financial trend of Islamic SACCOS in Tanzania since its establishment in 2010. Such trace enables Islamic SACCOS and other stakeholders to be aware on the financial progress of Islamic SACCOS and act accordingly to ensure sustainability.