The present study aims towards three research purposes. Firstly, it intends to reveal the pattern that associates the elements of the Integrated Reporting (IR) of companies listed on the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange (Tadawul). Secondly, it verifies the existence of a relationship between IR practices and some firm-specific characteristics. Third, it examines the similarities between the IR practices of these companies. IR communicates how an organization's strategy, governance, performance, and prospects lead to value creation. The dataset used for the IR elements is retrieved from Tadawul and consists of data regarding integrated reports for 126 companies listed in 2019; while the data for the firm-specific characteristics, as the size of the company, the auditor type and the type of company are extracted from Marketscreener.com and Argaam.com portals. The methodology used consists of the empirical-analytical approach with the use of Optimal Scaling techniques. Main findings consist of a positive association found between the elements of the IR, as well as that the specific characteristics of the firms are not related to the elements of the IR. In our results a dissimilarity is found in the corporate information disclosure practices. These findings reveal a need for a deep investigation of the IR elements and firm characteristics in Saudi Arabian companies. One of the future research direction is a multilinear data for various years such that can reveal a more comprehensive understanding of IR elements and firm characteristics. This study becomes relevant in the context of IR elements and firm characteristics relations, that are not yet studies at their research potential.

This paper examines the influence of capitalism and globalisation on the role of Shariah-Compliant Investment Funds (SCIFs) in promoting social justice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using content analysis method. This is to analyse the Terms and Conditions (T&C) of SCIFs as they appear in Tadawul (Saudi stock market) in 2019 and compared with the findings in 2013. This research critically evaluates the findings of the content analysis through aspects of globalization and insights from the literature review. The content analysis shows that SCIFs in KSA are disjointed and decoupled from Islamic principles and do not fulfil the ideal social justice role in society.

This study explains the influence of the corporate disclosure of firms listed on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange (Tadawul) on their subsequent financial performance. The research was conducted using an empirical-analytical approach at an explanatory level. Hypotheses were formulated based on secondary data and a general linear model that explains the financial performance measures based on the relevant corporate information disclosed by companies listed on Tadawul was used. Firms that disclosed the use of their strengths and resources to achieve objectives related to financial, economic, and environmental issues had a negative impact on the excess return expected beyond the systematic risk-adjusted return. Jensen’s alpha index was found to be the most appropriate financial performance measure to evaluate the relationship between corporate disclosure practices and firms’ subsequent performance. This study contributes to a better understanding of how the International Integrated Reporting Framework fosters value creation in financial capital. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to use statistical procedures to explain the simultaneous effects of multiple explanatory variables on multiple explained variables, which constitutes a major methodological contribution.

October 4, 2020 Revisiting the Halal screening investments: the case of GCC stock markets Khaled O. Alotaibi and Mohammad M. Hariri 14Issue This study provides a critical review of the issues associated with the screening of Islamic funds in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and questions the concept of Shariah-compliant (Halal) equity investment. Unlike prior relevant studies, the paper attempts to provide evidence as whether there is a necessity to invest in commingled Halal (CH) for a Halal diversified portfolio post the global financial crisis (GFC). This paper aims to explore how participants define and screen Shariah-compliant (Halal) investment, it particularly investigates whether pure Halal (PH) and commingled Halal (CH) equity investments are distinct or similar type of investments. The paper reports the findings of the semi-structured interviews with key participants in the Islamic funds industry mainly in Kuwait and other GCC countries. The findings from the interviews reveals that the Shariah-compliance equity investments are split into two different categories, namely: pure Halal (PH) and commingled Halal (CH) investments not as reported in the literature when measuring their screens or performance. Some interviewees seriously questioned the Shariah-compliance of CH stocks and thought that the fatwa that allows CH stocks should be revisited. The interviews findings highlight the need for harmonizing the Shariah screening criteria, and the development of accounting standards based on Islamic values rather than western ones to reflect the unique characteristics of Halal investments. Keywords: Islamic investment funds, Halal Investments, Shariah screening, Shariah-compliance investment, pure Halal stocks (PH), commingled Halal stocks (CH)