Globally, Islamic banking grew by a compound annual growth rate of 17.3 percent between 2009 and 2014. The estimated size of the industry at the end of 2014 was given at US$2.1 trillion. This total follar value of assets held by the Islamic financial institutions is less than 2 percent of the conventional banking industry; nonetheless, this is a huge achievement, considering it started from a zero base in the 1970s (Ernst & Young, 2013). Through the rate of growth has declined in recent years, the industry has nevertheless managed to grow by more than 15 percent even during the 2009 global crisis, whereas the overall banking assets remained static and economic growth in almost all countries was negative.

The global Islamic banking and finance industry has been growing consistently notwithstanding the periodic shocks and turbulence economic conditions in various parts of the world. However, looking ahead, what would ensure the growth of the industry and maintain its value proposion? We consider some of these emerging trends. Arguably, the two most significance trends in the financial service space have been the rise of advanced financial technology and the buzz on the "green economy" or sustainable financing.

This content of this book are cover on seven chapters, covering topics: Introduction Islamic economic & Islamic banking; Islamic financial planning concepts; Investments, unit trusts & the share market; Sukuks & contemporary investment instruments; Shariah Boards; Wills & estates; and Introduction to takaful.

Central Asian nations have been independent for almost three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Colloquially known as the 'stans', these Muslim-majority nations (more than 85% Muslim) include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan with a collective population of approximately 72 million. Religious practices are slowly emerging after decades of religious censorship, with at least a generation having lived under Soviet socialism. Economically, these Central Asian countries have suffered setbacks from the COVID-19 shock, emanating from an over-reliance on commodities such as oil revenue, migrant labour, low levels of diversification and inefficient social protection (UNDP, 2020). Existing Islamic social finance solutions such as zakat, waqf and sadaqah have been largely ineffective in supporting those economically impacted.

The consistent growth of the global Islamic banking and finance has provided a niche market with solutions and financial inclusion through a well-defined Islamic ethos. Unfortunately, Islamic finance has been criticised for having diverted from its core principles of socio-economic empowerment and upliftment. As in mainstream interest-based finance, Islamic financing and advances rely on the customers' credit-worthiness and the ability to repay, inevitably supporting those with good credit standing to improve their financial status. But, how has Islamic finance improved the lot of the downtrodden? What about the ethical, socio-economic tenets that Islamic finance has so vociferously espoused? We are perhaps at the brink of a new era in Islamic finance, driven by a global appetite for socially responsible and ethical investment created by the hype from the UNPRI 61 and the more recent UNSDG 172.

Recent success in the technology sector has witnessed the transformation of start-up companies with relatively small or no seed capital into billion-dollar companies within a very short-space of time. From the advent of taxi-hailing apps (aka Uber, Lyft and Grabcar) to accommodation (eg. Airbnb), smartphone applications and web-based platform provide the evidence of this growing phenomena. The application of technology in the financial sector has 'disrupted' the traditional 'brick-and-mortar' style distribution channels and if not embraced, would cause the current financial sector to lose a substantial portion of their businesses (estimated between 20% to 40%) to firms using 'fintech'.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the differences between the contemporary Shariah governance frameworks of Malaysia and Pakistan. The study also examines the ways in which the Shariah governance frameworks of both countries can complement each other. This research concludes that the SGF principles of both countries under discussion abide by the AAOIFI and IFSB guidelines regarding SGF. Many aspects of the SGF of Malaysia are similar to the SGF of Pakistan. For example, both structures need to further develop the ethical aspect. While the similarities are plentiful, a few differences can be found between the two as well. This research provides insights to policy makers, regulators, and practitioners on approaches in governance policy and an assessment of the governance scope adopted by Malaysia and Pakistan via their respective SGFs. The SGFs have also been assessed for their conformance to international standards, including the AAOIFI and the IFSB.

Like many other financial institutions, Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank operating in the United States was hit hard by the Eurozne crisis that followed the global financial crisis. Unable to restructure its $1.1 billion debt obligations due in March 2013, the bank decided to file for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court. This case study introduces Arcapita and its operations, explains the US Chapter 11 and its important aspects like debtor in possession (DIP) financing, highlights the most significant episodes of the Arcapita case, and concludes with important lessons embedded in the proceedings. Available in physical copy only (Call Number: HG 3368 A6 I82Na)

The common understanding of investments is to manage wealth such that there is wealth increase with rare losses of the starting value to compensate wealth holders (i) against inflation via risk-free return and (ii) plus a risk premium for the risk of the investment. It thus has the twin objectives of growth in wealth and preservation of wealth. This is achieved by means of a planned strategy that defines the goals of the investor. Wealth management includes the following: to achieve maximum growth with minimal risk (or maximum growth for a target level of risk); to manage risk as far as is possible to minimise taxation and other costs to receive a consistent income; to have a consistent level of consumption in line with inflation; and to grow wealth for specific future needs/wants: purchase of property, business, education, health, pension, pilgrimage (hajj), and so on.

This study aims to examine the impact of information overload (referred to as the saddling effect in this study) of underlying contracts on the sales performance of the salesforce at takaful institutions with special reference to addressing the heterogeneous effect among distribution channels. A total of 311 samples were collected from the sales professionals of the takaful industry in Malaysia using a purposive sampling technique and the empirical analysis was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping technique using partial least square structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. Empirical results indicate that the saddling effect of the underlying contracts is evident among salesforce and the magnitude of the impact was found to be heterogeneous between the groups of salesforces in different distribution channels. Findings recommend respective authorities of takaful institutions to intensify capacity building for their salesforce, particularly in the area of shariah knowledge and nature of underlying Islamic contracts used in the takaful products. A significant heterogeneous effect between distribution channels suggests that the actions and policy formulations should be diverse between the salesforce at different distribution channels and higher attention should be catered for the salesforce at the direct selling channel.

The consistent growth of the global Islamic banking and finance has provided a niche market with solutions and financial inclusion through a well-defined Islamic ethos. Unfortunately, Islamic finance has been criticised for having diverted from its core principles of socio-economic empowerment and upliftment. As in mainstream interest-based finance, Islamic financing and advances rely on the customers' credit-worthiness and the ability to repay, inevitably supporting those with good credit standing to improve their financial status. But, how has Islamic finance improved the lot of the downtrodden? What about the ethical, socio-economic tenets that Islamic finance has so vociferously espoused? We are perhaps at the brink of a new era in Islamic finance, driven by a global appetite for socially responsible and ethical investment created by the hype from the UNPRI 61 and the more recent UNSDG 172.