This study examines the quality of governance and religious assurance provided by Shariah boards (SBs) when undertaking the crucial compliance review required in fulfilling the expected ethical and social legitimacy of Islamic banks. To better understand the complex behavioural processes, we explore the governance role of SBs and assess issues related to competence, effectiveness and independence in the light of the newly adopted 2011 Malaysian Shariah Governance Framework (SGF). A series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken with key individuals in two well-established fully-fledged Malaysian Islamic banks. Our findings reveal that the newly implemented SGF has generally brought about some of the benefits hoped for by its regulatory architects. We find the quality of religious assurance to have been enhanced due to the emphasis placed on religious audit giving rise to improved credibility. However, we report the compliance review process to be inadequately undertaken with SBs still excessively reliant on internal officers implying possible independence compromise. We highlight concerns relating to (1) the general level of competency of individual SB members; (2) lack of technical banking and finance knowledge; and (3) SB members generally fulfilling a ceremonial role rather than undertaking vigilant monitoring. Our findings lead us to question the full impact of the new 2011 SGF and query the value and effectiveness of SBs. We make the call for the establishment of external religious auditors to render compliance assurance which could provide the much-needed impetus to improve governance and increase market and stakeholder confidence.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the significant role of the Shariah Board (SB) in the innovation of digital finance products through SBs’ interaction with financial technology (FinTech). Design/methodology/approach By using semi-structured interviews, the paper examines 34 views and experiences of scholars and other practitioners from the FinTech and Islamic banking industries to gain an in-depth understanding of SBs’ Shariah compliance roles in FinTech inclusion in Malaysian Islamic banks (IBs). Findings Taking advantage of Malaysia’s comprehensive Shariah Governance Framework for IBs, the study highlighted the importance of SBs to better address the opportunities and challenges of financial innovation for the development of IBs with the inclusion of FinTech. The authors found that digital solutions and tools, such as Robo Advisory system and blockchain, enhance SBs’ roles by providing more effective and timely Shariah assurance regardless of the volume of data information and storage. Practical implications Given SBs significant roles in conforming to the Shariah, the study contributed significantly to assisting the regulatory and policy promulgation that enhance SBs’ integrity and credibility in response to the growth of IB infrastructures and financial innovation. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the significant role of SBs in the innovation of digital finance products through their interaction with FinTech, while prior studies focused on the characteristics and structure of Islamic digital financial products.

The global technology development has made rapid changes and revolution on the financial services landscape that enforce most banking system including Islamic banks to be more innovative and digitalized. In relation to the technology growth, Islamic banks are now collaborating with Financial Technology (FinTech) companies to grow their market shares. Through critical review of the literatures, we highlight that the inclusion of FinTech may provide important avenues for the Islamic banking industry to offer more innovative financial technology products while being conscious on the morality and Shariah compliant aspects. Besides the beneficial impact and value creation on the application of technology system and information, we also critically highlight several issues on financial risk associated from the technology development and Shariah compliance. We also highlight that it is crucial role for Shariah boards to have the necessary knowledge and skills and to be active with the management of Islamic banks in developing new financial technology products.

Shariah committees (SCs) of Islamic banks have the crucial governance role of providing Shariah compliance assurance. In order to maintain the integrity of the bank in conforming with religious faith SBs should have the talent and skills for an effective monitoring which among others include contributing to Shariah audit task. To gain an in-depth understanding on the Shariah compliance audit role of SB, our present study has performed semi-structured intrerviews with 14 key players at two fully-fledge Islamic banks. Our study shows that the diverse Shariah and non-Shariah backgrounds of SB members could result in a more holistic view of Shariah issues, being more vocal in giving opinion and critism on the Shariah audit practices undertaken by Islamic banks. However, our findings reveal the existence of imbalance competency among SB members and the absence of proper Shariah audit framework in the two banks governance framework. As a result, most of the SB members delegate their Shariah audit role to be mainly performed by their Shariah audit division whose outcome will be submitted to them for approval. We argue that this passive role of SB members triggers concern on their independence and, consequently, compromised the Shariah compliance assurance provided to stakeholders.