Issue #1 (Volume 14 2019)

The study aims to examine the financing profitability optimization as recorded by Sharia Business Unit of Regional Development Banks (RDBs) in Indonesia. The profitability measured by Net Operating Margin (NOM) and predicted variables were tested with the ratio of Operational Cost to Operational Income (BOPO), Non-Performing Financing (NPF) and Profit Sharing Financing (PSF). On the basis of the literature review conducted, the study proposed five path coefficients to impact NOM, of which the constructed direct path to NOM was three and two for indirect paths. Time series data used were obtained from annual reports and publication reports. Using Pearson Correlation and Path Analysis, the study has found that BOPO, PSF, and NPF contributed to impact to NOM directly, and PSF impacted NOM indirectly through BOPO. Interestingly, PSF recorded a negative impact on NOM, suggesting inefficiency matters faced by SBU of RDBs not contributed from PSF. Another interesting finding, NPF was found insignificant to BOPO, indicating loan default is not a major matter for inefficiency issue, but could be a tight financing policy.

The study aims at analyzing the relationship between financial performances and marketing practices in the banking sector of Jordan. A questionnaire was distributed to 45 top, middle, and branch level managers of 15 banks. The financial data was obtained from the financial statements and annual reports of the banks during the five-year period between 2011 and 2015. The three categories of participants, who were recruited, were top-level managers, middle-level managers and branch-level managers from 17 banks of Jordan. No two means were found to differ significantly at 0.05 level by means of Scheffe test. The results revealed that the more positive the perception was of the managers regarding the position of their banks in the market, the more they were inclined to choose an accurate target market in accomplishing their marketing objectives. Therefore, it has been concluded that when the financial needs of the customers were similar, the change in the loan-to-deposit ratio was significantly positive.

This study is aimed at analyzing the financial performance and indicator of macroeconomics to influence the quality of financing at Islamic Rural Bank Industry (IRBI) in Indonesia. The panel data regression is used to predict the change of quality of financing which is reflected by value of non-performing financing (NPF). The model of this study is grouped by four areas of working zones because IRBI has different competency depending on its region. The sample of the study used 72 IRBIs in the periods of Quarter II 2010 to Quarter I 2016. The results of the study show that simultanuously variables for the size of banks, financing to deposit ratio (FDR), operational efficiency ratio (OER), return on equity (ROE), expense to assets (EA), percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and the rate of inflation are statistically significant to non-performing financing of the IRBI in Indonesia. GDP has strongly significant impact on the NPF of IRBI in Indonesia. According to Areas of working zones, inflation has quite significant impact on the IRBI in Zone One, and GDP has strongly significant impact on the IRBI in Zone Two, Zone Three, and Zone Four. Nevertheless, there are different effects of GDP towards NPF which has a negative impact on Zone One and Zone Four, meanwhile Zone Two and Zone Three have positive impact. In conclusion, government policy treatment should be different at every zone.

This study aimed to examine the impact of external factors (external grants and aid, external public debt, remittances of Jordanians labor abroad and external shocks) on the efficiency of the monetary policy, which aims at achieving monetary stability through influencing inflation rates in Jordan during the period 1990–2015, by using standard regression equation estimated by the ordinary least squares (OLS). The findings of the study showed a statistically significant impact at 1% of each of the external grants and aid, and remittances of Jordanians labor abroad on the efficiency of monetary policy through targeting inflation rates in Jordan. As to the variables of external public debt and external shocks, the findings showed a weak impact, which was not statistically significant at a reasonable level, on the efficiency of monetary policy. The researchers recommended that decision-makers pay further attention to the vital role of the remittances of the Jordanians labor abroad, which is one of the main bases of the Jordanian economy. This is due to its crucial impact on the Jordanian economy.

This study examines the role of institutional ownership in moderating the relation between fundamental factors of a company and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Enterprise Value (firm value). The type of this research is an explanation research method. The sampling method was a proportional random sampling method of the population of banking companies of the Indonesian Stock Exchange. The method of data collection was documentation. The method of data analysis was Multiple Regression Analysis. The results of this study showed that simultaneous net profit margin and corporate social responsibility had a significant effect on the firm value. Partial test shows that net profit margin variables had an effect on the firm value and corporate social responsibility variables, which consist of economy, and had no influence on firm value. The results also indicated that institutional ownership strengthened the relation of fundamental factors and corporate social responsibility with the Enterprise Value.

The article aims to evaluate the business efficiency of commercial banks in Vietnam using both parametric and non-parametric approaches. In this study, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), which belongs to a parametric method, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a non-parametric approach, are applied to a sample of 30 joint stock commercial banks in Vietnam in the period of 2011–2015. Applying Tobit regression model, the impact of bank size, bank age, and the ownership feature on the efficiency of bank service industry in Vietnam is also investigated. The analysis results show that in general, the Vietnamese banking efficiency is improving during the selected period regardless of techniques used. However, there is small level of similarity in efficiency rankings identified from the SFA and DEA models. In terms of efficiency determinants, the results show that all three variables of size, age, and state ownership have a positive impact on bank efficiency.

Stimulating competition in the bank system without compromising the stability constitutes a major puzzle that bank regulators and practitioners face. Hitherto, empirical studies focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa in addressing these issues for the anticipated regional integration and sustainable growth are rare. This study applied structural equation modelling to simultaneously analyze competition, regulation and stability in a panel of 440 Sub-Saharan African commercial banks over the period from 2006 to 2015. The results provided evidence that competition affects stability via efficiency and that regulation affects stability via competition and efficiency. This study produced critical theoretical and methodological insights with substantial implications for the conduct of bank regulatory policy.

This paper investigates the challenges faced by Islamic banks in practicing Mudarabah financing under conventional regulatory regime by interviewing eleven Islamic bank managers from three selected banks. Thematic data analysis was employed to understand hindrances for Islamic banks in operating Mudarabah financing under conventional regulatory regime. Findings of the study have provided a number of major challenges that hinder Islamic banks performance in Tanzanian context. The challenges include irregularities of policies and regulations, non-supportive operational and technical structure, and missed perceptions of Mudarabah among the public. However, a new challenge of the impact of the central bank on Islamic banks was identified. It is expected that Tanzanian Islamic banking performance will enhance if the central bank introduces sharia regulations for Islamic banking, initiates the central sharia supervisory board, and harmonize country regulations with financial regulations regarding Islamic perspectives.

This research identifies factors that explain the liquidity of commercial banks in the Vietnam banking system from 2010 to 2015. Using the OLS regression method for analysis, it was found that:

1. the interbank market helps commercial banks improve their liquidity;
2. the larger the loan size, the higher the liquidity risk;
3. good credit risk management has a positive impact on liquidity risk management; and
4. long-term interest rate is negatively related to the liquidity of commercial banks.

The research also makes recommendations on liquidity risk management policies to banks and policy-makers from the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam.

The main purpose of this study is to make an analysis to understand whether the exchange rate channel is effective in Azerbaijan. In this framework, quarterly data between 2001:01 and 2017:02 is examined in this study. Furthermore, VAR method is taken into the consideration in the analysis process. The findings show that exchange rate channel is very important for Azerbaijani economy. In other words, the exchange rate channel is working on the total output and price axis. Hence, it is recommended that necessary actions should be taken by a central bank regarding the effective usage of exchange rate channel to contribute to industrial production and employment.

The study examined the determinants of bank stability within the South African banking sector. By controlling for individual bank characteristics and market characteristics, the study determined possible determinants of solvency, a proxy for bank stability, measured by z-score within the South African financial sector. The South African financial sector is highly concentrated but with a significantly large number of banks, the greater portion being foreign owned banks. The business models of some of the financial intermediaries differ from the big four and therefore the influence of the type of business model is of great interest in this study, as it highlights a unique feature of the South African financial sector. The study’s investigation used panel data estimation techniques and found that among the specific bank characteristics, lending activity and capitalization do significantly affect solvency of banks and at sector level concentration was significant. The crisis dummy also revealed that the presence of a financial crisis heightened insolvency. The results have implications for financial institutions and therefore are of interest to regulators, bank management and researchers. Policy prescription in the form of Prompt Corrective Action framework is made to ensure proactive reaction to trends likely to cause instability.

The banking sector in India has contributed to economic growth, parity and equity while equally keeping focus on profit and social objectives. The successive prudential and regulatory reforms introduced in the banking sector have made it more robust and stronger to withstand the bubbles and external shocks. Still, the Indian banking sector in general and public-sector banks (PSBs) in particular have been suffering from the bank frauds. This study endeavors to cover the increasing incidences of banking frauds in PSBs and probes the weaknesses and chinks in the operational risk architecture at the PSBs in India. This study selects Punjab National Bank as a true representative of PSBs and treats it as a critical case study to apply the learning and findings to the PSBs in India. This qualitative analysis of the study revealed that the chinks in the operational risk control mechanism and lax corporate governance are the main reasons behind the increasing incidences of frauds at PSBs. The findings of the study showed that a strong corporate governance and compliance framework, robust risk management architecture, investment in people, technology and systems will go a long way in achieving tighter control and supervision, streamlining processes and, most of all, adhering to a culture of checks and balances.

The current research aims to explore the impact of corporate governance on the Saudi banking performance for the period of 2014–2017. Though many researchers tested the relationship of corporate governance and firm performance, globally as well as in Saudi Arabia, however, during the literature review, it was found that many excluded the banking industry. This study tries to fill the gap by looking exclusively at the Saudi banking industry. Firm performance is measured through return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q as the dependent variables. The corporate governance practices are measured through the board characteristics (size, meeting, number of committees, independence, foreign board membership), and an audit committee (size, meeting, independence) as the independent variables. Firm size and firm age are the controls. Panel data analysis was implemented, using both descriptive and multivariate analysis through multiple regression to investigate the governance practices and firm performance. The empirical findings demonstrate that board size, audit committee meeting and bank size have a positive impact on ROE, whereas board independence has a negative impact on ROE. Similarly, board size and bank size have a positive relationship with ROA and board meeting has a negative relationship with ROA. Further, board (size and independence) and bank size have a positive relationship with Tobin’s Q, whereas number of board committees and bank age have a negative relationship with Tobin’s Q. Finally, audit committee (size and independence) and foreign board membership have no impact on the bank performance.

This study aims to measure the risk disclosure level in Egyptian banks and to investigate its determinants. The sample consisted of 28 banks during the period from 2010 to 2017. An unweighted risk disclosure index including six categories was used: credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, capital structure and adequacy risk, operational risk, and other non-financial risks. Also, a content analysis approach was used to measure the actual level of risk disclosure. The findings demonstrated that there was an average level of total risk disclosure of all sample banks. The results showed that banks with a higher percentage of independent board membership, large board size, large audit committee size, duality, higher institutional ownership, and banks audited by one of big four audit firms were more motivated to increase risk disclosure. Also, the results showed that leverage, bad news, and bank social responsibility have a negative relationship with the level of risk disclosure. Overall, the results indicated that leverage, board size, audit committee size, auditor types, independence, duality, institutional ownership, bank social responsibility, and bad news are the main factors affecting the level of risk disclosure in Egyptian banks. The findings of this paper have a number of important implications. The risk disclosure in the banking sector is important for stakeholders such as investors and depositors. Also, risk disclosure index helps the regulatory bodies to evaluate the risk disclosure practice in Egyptian banks. This paper contributes to analyzing factors affecting banks managers’ decision to disclose risk information in emerging countries such as Egypt.

The purpose of the article is to study computer crimes in the credit and financial sphere based on elements of forensic characteristics of crimes and analysis of the ways of their commission. The relevance of the study is due to the rapid increase in the number of computer crimes in the credit and financial sphere and the low level of their disclosure. The research was conducted using the method of system analysis and synthesis of information obtained from criminal proceedings, as well as reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine, from 2014 to 2018. The most actual motives and methods of committing computer crimes in the financial sphere have been analyzed and it has been established that during the period of Ukraine’s independence, the level of economic crimes has increased by almost 300%. The increase in the number of crimes contributes to the distrust of the injured party to the law enforcement agencies, savings of funds of financial institutions on cyber security, low level of information security of the financial sphere of Ukraine, lack of clear coordination between the relevant departments, which are responsible for the investigation of these crimes. The necessity of conducting separate investigative actions at the initial stage of the investigation has been justified in order to facilitate the rapid identification of the suspect, causing material damage and, in general, the investigation process.

Agricultural credit is required for the development of agriculture scenario in any economy. Commercial, cooperative and regional rural banks have extended agricultural credit to the farmers in Dakshina Kannada district of India. The effectiveness of agricultural credit system depends on the utilization of credit funds by the borrowers. The present study made an attempt to understand the factors influencing the utilization of agricultural credit of banks in Dakshina Kannada. The study used primary and secondary data. Primary data are gathered from the borrowers of banks operating in Dakshina Kannada district. The study found that there is an impact of demographic, agriculture and agricultural credit factors on the purpose of utilization of agricultural credit in Dakshina Kannada district.

In the third bank restructuring process in Vietnam during the 2011–2016 period, banking system experienced the participation of 14 commercial banks with 7 successful, both mandatory and voluntary, M&A deals. This research tries to answer if M&A was a good method of dealing with weak banks as Vietnam expected. Firstly, the article evaluates M&A activities’ effects on business results of acquiring banks through three financial ratios (including return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and net interest margin (NIM) by using paired sample T-Test. The results show that M&A activities only have positive effects on ROA of acquiring banks in Vietnam, while impacts of M&A activities on ROE and NIM are not clear. Secondly, by using a fuzzy TOPSIS approach based on Balanced Scorecard, the research shows that the performance of acquiring banks in mandatory M&A deals are not good as compared to the other acquiring banks. In fact, M&A deal only has strongly positive effects on acquiring bank performance, when it is totally based on real demands of both target and acquiring banks as well as created synergy. Therefore, to deal with weak banks in the next time period, Vietnamese banking system should focus on other market solutions in addition to keeping the nature of M&A activities and improving its efficiency.